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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309103">Nuages</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetaTyi/pseuds/PetaTyi'>PetaTyi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura is pretty awesome, Uchiha Sasuke Needs a Hug, Uchiha Shisui Lives, but then so is Shisui, non-massacre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:27:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,329</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309103</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetaTyi/pseuds/PetaTyi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura was nineteen when she was saved from certain death by an Uchiha who was supposed to be dead himself. What ensues is an improbable story</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haruno Sakura &amp; Uchiha Shisui, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Shisui</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>188</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first attempt at a Sakura/Shisui story because<br/>1) there aren't enough stories out there<br/>2) I just love Shisui too much</p>
<p>Please be patient with me, English is not my first language, but I'm trying my best.<br/>Also I don't have beta, so if there are any volunteers for it, please let me know!<br/>One last note: this story came from listening Nuages - Dreams, so I'd recommend giving the song a try (for ambiance reasons :) )</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The forest is destroyed, ground leveled and the smell of smoke and blood, putrid, fills her nostrils up to the point of tears. But Sakura is too exhausted and the tears don't come – she doesn't have enough water in her body to waste on them.</p>
<p>Her eyes see the bodies – gods, there are <em>hundreds</em> of them – but her mind doesn't register them.</p>
<p>She is injured.</p>
<p>Poisoned even. The blade that went through her abdomen an hour ago had been heavily coated in some kind of poison she doesn't recognize. Not that it matters, Sakura's been out of antidotes a couple of weeks ago, ever since she got separated from the camp. The adrenalin and chakra kept her steady until now, but the battle is over and it's catching up with her. She feels it attacking her organs.</p>
<p>Not attacking – <em>destroying</em>. She can envision it slowly but steady eating at the tissue and her chakra is powerless against it. It's been doing her best to keep the pain at bay, but the damage is there. And now that she actually has time to feel, the pain hits her suddenly, her knees go weak and a soft gasp escapes her mouth.</p>
<p>The pain blinds her. There's a metallic taste in her mouth and she realizes it's not just the taste, just as some blood drips from the corner of her mouth.</p>
<p>Oh. '<em>I'm dying' </em>Sakura realizes.</p>
<p>And the realization is almost too big to swallow.</p>
<p>She curses being a medic and the ability to sense and comprehend every single thing that's happening to her body.</p>
<p>Some die in pain, some die quick, some die peacefully. But Sakura's pretty damn sure only med-nins feel their deaths so thoroughly, watching it like a film, slowly unfolding. Like a cliché, knowing what is about to happen but powerless to stop it.</p>
<p>A twitch in the woods and Sakura snaps out of it for a second. She has to leave, maybe there's a chance, there's someone who can help her. She owes them to at least <em>try.</em></p>
<p>Each step is excruciating, that one time Naruto's rasengan hit her by mistake feeling like a child's play compared to this.</p>
<p>Her eyes glaze over, exhaustion creeping over her body. Will she have enough chakra to even reach someone? Bending down, she yanks out a kunai from an unknown body. She might need it later</p>
<p>
  <em>If she can even throw it.</em>
</p>
<p>One painful step at a time, right arm wrapped around her mid-section for some semblance of a comfort, she leaves the freshly hand-made clearing.</p>
<p>She'll never really even know who the rogue ninja fought for.</p>
<p>Not that it matters now they're all dead.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The war had predictably started last summer, a year ago.</p>
<p>Sakura and pretty much every shinobi had seen the signs everywhere. The rogue nins were on the loose, their numbers growing each passing day and Konoha had taken the brunt of attacks more than any other village. It was to be expected, but what bothered Sakura was that Sound didn't even try to hide their tracks.</p>
<p>Suna had made their alliance and support clear from the very beginning. Not surprising, since Gaara would've gone to any lengths to protect Naruto and implicitly, Konoha.</p>
<p>The night Konoha was first attacked had not been as disastrous as they had expected, courtesy of their elite shinobi and especially the Uchihas, the police force having increased their patrols in the weeks coming to the attack. Because of this, camps had been set out around the fire country for better surveillance and spread of their forces. Team 7 was lucky enough to have stayed together in one of the camps, roughing it out together in the bleak months that ensued.</p>
<p>Sakura acting out as head-medic, time divided between treating tens of injured shinobi or training new med-nins, which were needed more and more every day.</p>
<p>Kakashi was naturally the division leader, under direct orders from the Hokage. Naruto, having outgrown his appetite for pranks, was their instructor, organizing daily trainings for the camp, and according to Sakura, the bastard who never let her get her beauty sleep.</p>
<p>And Sasuke, team strategist, Uchiha prodigy and possibly most arrogant bastard in the world. Yet Sakura could her underneath his smug expressions and sarcastic comments; he missed his family back in Konoha.</p>
<p>Itachi had been in their camp twice since the war had started. Once whilst he was making the rounds, as per the Hokage's requests. And of course to bring news to Sasuke about their clan. The second time he had brought more important news, especially about the Akatsuki organization which had apparently orchestrated the beginnings of the war for material benefits and, as they put it, 'world peace'.</p>
<p>The news had come from their <em>contact</em>. Itachi didn't say who it was, but they seemed to either have had ties with the organization or might've even been a part of it, Sakura deduced from the conversation.</p>
<p>'They started out as mercenaries, merely accepting payment for deeds – roughly rogue nins, as we have gathered' Itachi had said. 'But their true purpose was revealed to be world peace through world dominance, and their means are <em>unorthodox</em>, to state the least'.</p>
<p>Naruto had had enough by this point and blurted out in his usual obnoxious self.</p>
<p>"Hey Older-Uchiha-bastard' (at this Sakura narrowed her eyes, but Itachi was already used to Naruto's antics to take it to heart) 'what do you mean with all this jibber-jabber?! What are they after!'.</p>
<p>Itachi calmly sipped his drink and spared his brother a glance.</p>
<p>'They mean to trap and extract all bijuus to merge and create the 10th original tailed beast'.</p>
<p>The silence that ensued seemed deafening.</p>
<p>Sakura cleared her throat and caught Naruto's cerulean eyes. He locked eyes with her and unsurprisingly, there was determination in them.</p>
<p>'Just let them try, dattebayo' he proclaimed, fist in the air. 'I'll show them what Naruto Uzumaki is all about'.</p>
<p>Later, when Naruto had fallen asleep in their camp-tent, beds so close to each other that she could feel his body heat, she turned to Sasuke. Of course her bed was between them. As close as they were, Naruto still thought it 'icky' to sleep next to the Uchiha and even Sasuke seemed grateful to have Sakura in the middle. Or at least that's how she interpreted the 'hn' he graciously sent their way, after the sleeping arrangements had been made.</p>
<p>'Sasuke' she whispered gently in the dark. His heartbeat told her that he was not sleeping yet.</p>
<p>Onyx eyes opened and looked at her.</p>
<p>'This Akatsuki business…' she swallowed, hesitated. 'Naruto will throw himself head first into it'.</p>
<p>Sasuke softly nodded, eyes unreadable.</p>
<p>'We will need to protect <em>him</em> this time. You know how he is, he'll rush into it, wanting to save everyone, but if these guys are as strong as they seem, then it won't be like before'.</p>
<p>Sasuke didn't reply, but his eyes took a different expression, one that she hadn't seen before and didn't understand. Sakura wasn't really expecting a verbal reply, so she smiled softly and whispered '<em>good night</em>' before turning on her back and closing her eyes. She would dream of peace tonight.</p>
<p>And just as sleep was tugging at her eyes, she felt Sasuke's hand grabbing her own.</p>
<hr/>
<p>About two months ago, their camp had been attacked in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>Even with all the shinobi standing guard, what woke her was Naruto's second tail already sprouting. She wasn't even sure – <em>how the hell was he already on the second tail, the attack could've started only minutes ago </em>– but the situation was critical and if they didn't get him under control, then chances were their demise would come from Naruto himself, not the enemy shinobi. Sasuke was already up, katana unsheathed and he was also eyeing Naruto warily.</p>
<p>What a time for Captain Yamato to be on a mission.</p>
<p>Before she could even think of a plan, Naruto had burst through the side of the tent, growling and throwing himself into the fight.</p>
<p>All hell broke loose.</p>
<p>Sakura started fighting enemies left and right, her moves limited to taijutsu and close range weapons. Kami knows her monstrous strength would do more bad than good in these close quarters, threatening to take out some of Konoha and Suna shinobi as well as their enemies.</p>
<p>Sweat and blood covered her clothes, her eyes stung and her bones felt heavy by the time Sakura finally managed to catch a break and dared to look around. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke wielding two katanas expertly, so she reasoned that he was good on his own. The bastard hadn't even broken a sweat, clothes impeccable and hair still shiny.</p>
<p>He shouted her name in-between impaling two Sound enemies.</p>
<p>'Naruto's on his fourth tail, we need to take him out <em>now</em>!'.</p>
<p><em>Damn it all to hell</em>.</p>
<p>Naruto's chakra was easy to sense, about a mile away into the forest. She wished she could at least see Kakashi sensei, he would know what to do or at least a semblance of the seal that can stop Naruto. With that thought in mind, she fueled her feet with chakra and started running towards where Naruto was. She heard him before she saw him, and threw herself direct into the fighting scene.</p>
<p>Immediately, dozens of senbon – she could smell they're poisoned – flew towards her and she made a spectacle out of avoiding each of them.</p>
<p>'<em>Kabuto'</em>.</p>
<p>His glasses glint in the sun, the smirk permanently etched on his features. The crazed mednin acknowledged her.</p>
<p>'Sakura-chan'.</p>
<p>Her eyes darted around, assessing the situation; She would've <em>loved</em> to rip Kabuto's head off, but when she caught Naruto's red eyes with her own and he actually <em>snarled</em> at her, fangs and all, she immediately made her decision.</p>
<p>One punch was all she needed to take him out. If she aimed it correctly – <em>and she would</em> – no permanent damage would be left on Naruto. Except for being an impulsive idiot, but that wasn't up to her. She couldn't say the same things about their surroundings, but a crater was a risk she just had to take.</p>
<p>Sakura drew up on all her chakra sources, concentrating them into her fist. She just needed for Naruto to get distracted and not hear her coming. A distraction which the idiot Kabuto served to her, as he began mocking Naruto.</p>
<p>'Naruto-kun, still as unskilled as ever.. Tsk, not even able to control that beast from hurting your friends. How would you feel is precious Sakura-kun died from your lack of self-control?' </p>
<p>Naruto started growling and she thought she could hear a rumble of 'I will fucking kill you' before he dug his clawed hands into the ground.</p>
<p>This is what she needed.</p>
<p>Sakura moved like a lightening bolt, striking Naruto in the side of the neck, her chakra powerfully pressing his pressure points which would knock him out. If it had been anyone else <em>but</em> Naruto, they would've been simply obliterated. But Naruto just hit the ground hard, creating a web of splinters where he fell, his red chakra slowly glowing out and the tails retreating.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait until I tell Sasuke and Kakashi about this.</em>
</p>
<p>But she had no time to think about the little victory dance she wanted to do, because she still had Kabuto on her hands.</p>
<p>Kabuto was an important game master in the war, just underneath Akatsuki and Orochimaru, so taking him out was an important victory for the shinobi alliance. Not to mention a huge blow to Orochimaru, who's experiments would be hindered – or at least temporarily suspended.</p>
<p>And Orochimaru wanted Sasuke, so…</p>
<p><em>This ends today</em>, she swore.</p>
<p>The first two times she went head to head with Kabuto, she tried genjutsu and ninjutsu, but he successfully evaded her. He couldn't be caught in genjutsu and she was too slow for ninjutsu, not to mention that the only weapons she had on her were a few kunais. Taijutsu it was then.</p>
<p>Sakura slammed both feet hard into the dirt, earth shattering into a direct line towards Kabuto. He jumped back, but Sakura was already expecting him with a roundhouse kick, which he blocked with his hands.</p>
<p><em>Bad move</em>, as she had put her all of her force behind that kick, and Kabuto literally shook at the impact and Sakura hoped that his arm bones at least splintered. They both landed to the ground and she dropped low, swinging her leg to kick-throw him on his back. Kabuto jumped back again, whilst throwing two tagged kunai at her, which exploded <em>too close</em> to her face.</p>
<p>She didn't leave him time to think before rushing towards him again, fists ready, and launched in a taijutsu combination well practiced with Lee during their individual spars. Kabuto clearly had a difficult time in keeping up with both, but his unnerving smirk was still present, which made her suspect that he had a card under his sleeve. Thinking she had to end this fast, she left her side open, in a perfect position for the kunai he was handling to strike. He caught the bait and swung forcefully, impaling her.</p>
<p>Sakura gasped, before her clone disappearing with a puff of smoke.</p>
<p>The real Sakura appeared from the ground, arm extended and her fist connected with his jaw. A sickening crack was heard, before Kabuto's clone also disappeared, a log in his place.</p>
<p>Then, a prickle on the nape of her neck, and Sakura smirked. She swiftly turned, grabbing a kunai from her leg holster and head-locked the real Kabuto with her left arm, kunai moving directly to his throat, straight for his jugular.</p>
<p>This was it.</p>
<p>But Sakura was surprised when his own arm went around her waist and he smiled, a breath away from her face.</p>
<p>'Sakura!' someone shouted.</p>
<p>Kabuto shoved her, but she wouldn't let go of him. Then her world tilted sideways and went black.</p>
<hr/>
<p>She ungracefully hit the ground, hard, swearing but still clutching her kunai.</p>
<p>God, she was going to <em>throw up.</em> Just what the hell did Kabuto <em>do?</em></p>
<p>Digging her knees in the ground, she opened her eyes, simultaneously swallowing back her bile and swearing between her teeth. She was going to murder Kabuto, then bring him back and murder him again, then show his head to Orochimaru.</p>
<p>She wasn't near their camp anymore.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, she couldn't even recognize their surroundings anymore. She had ventured enough around their camp to know that it wasn't even remotely close. She might even be in…</p>
<p>'Isn't Kiri a beautiful place? I've always admired it's… divergence'.</p>
<p>
  <em>For fuck's sake.</em>
</p>
<p>Just what she needed.</p>
<p>For the second time that day, Sakura swore that this would end here and now, then blindly charged.</p>
<p>The teleportation jutsu had taken its toll on Kabuto and even better, had used up a lot of his chakra, from what she could detect.</p>
<p>He wasn't expecting the taijustsu Sakura pulled again on him and even better, it seemed he wasn't prepared to face it, choosing instead to hide in the trees and shower her with senbon and kunai. But Sakura had predicted it, and her clones were everywhere. Every single step Kabuto took, she was there, until he was finally cornered.</p>
<p>She thought of playing this out, teasing him, making him pay for all these years and avenge the children he experimented on, but she was oh-so-tired and her mind was on her boys back in Konoha.</p>
<p>So Sakura grunted, steeled her eyes, and gathered chakra to her fists.</p>
<p>She could <em>feel</em> his heartbeat quicken and in the back of her mind she realized with relief that he wasn't a clone. The possibility hadn't crossed her mind until then, but she thanked her Kami's for their gift. She used a resemblance of shunshin to move close to Kabuto, evaded his kunai which he desperately and quite pointlessly threw at her, and struck, palm open, using her chakra as a scalpel.</p>
<p>The surprise in his eyes was evident and Kabuto let out a gasp as Sakura sliced through his chest, just above his heart. Once inch deeper and he would've been dead on the spot. No matter, the second blow would finish him off.</p>
<p>Kabuto fell to his knees, clutching the gaping wound in chest, dark blood overflowing.</p>
<p>Weak chakra fueled his hands, but his desperate attempt to heal the wound was futile.</p>
<p>'Good bye, Kabuto'.</p>
<p>Sakura struck for one last time.</p>
<hr/>
<p>This was over 2 months ago, and Sakura had been wandering aimlessly since then.</p>
<p>She had never been to Kirikagure, due to the tensioned relations between the villages and the recent on-going war, so after two weeks of travelling around the villages, living on stolen food and finding shelter in dubious locations, she managed to steal a map only to realize her predicament was far worst than she imagined. Suddenly, her dream of getting home in what she predicted would be another 3 or 4 days – from what she could remember, that was the distance to Konoha – turned to ashes.</p>
<p>Sakura's mouth went dry, a telltale sign she was going to cry.</p>
<p>A hot sensation in the back of the throat, and there they were. Tears overflowed her eyes as she looked at the map.</p>
<p>It would be weeks, if she was <em>lucky</em>.</p>
<p>Tiny islands dotted the Mist country, and unless she found a straight route to mainland, which she would most definitely avoid as it would mean longer exposure time and a lack of land refuge, in case things got ugly, she would have to hop on each on her way home.</p>
<p>Sakura's stunt in the Bingo Book would certainly not help, as everyone recognized her pink hair wherever she went. Henges would be of no use against shinobis, which also limited her travelling destinations to small villages. She allowed herself a few more moments of self-pity, before once again steeling herself. She would make it back to her boys, no matter what.</p>
<hr/>
<p>It had been 5 or 6 gruesome weeks of travelling to get to Fire Country, eating what she could hunt or steal and barely making it alive from two encounters with Mist-nin. She had lost weight and the lack of a proper diet mean that she could not build up her chakra reserves. </p>
<p>Sakura had encountered the 100 or so army of shinobi two days after setting foot on the mainland. In truth, she got the feeling that the meeting was not close to being a coincidence and unless her paranoia was acting up, she suspected Orochimaru had been the one to set it up.</p>
<p>Which meant he knew about Kabuto's death and had also learned it was her doing. But she never got the chance to ask, as the fight had ensued immediately, and it had been brutal.</p>
<p>Now here she is, standing in a graveyard of her own making – quite <em>literally.</em></p>
<p>She holds herself together as well as she can, dragging herself through the forest before more nin come after her – or even worse, Orochimaru.</p>
<p>She faintly hears a stream, so she switches directions towards it. Water will help clean the wound and usually, where there's water, there are people. Perhaps downstream, or upstream, she really can't remember.</p>
<p>The first time she sees Kakashi in the distance, her heart skips a beat. It figures that he would find out where she is and come to the rescue.</p>
<p>But when he's joined by Naruto and Sasuke, and <em>none</em> of them make any move towards them, she figures they're just hallucinations. Which in all honesty, doesn't bother her. At least she's not alone.</p>
<p>By the time she reaches the waterfall, the hallucinations are in full swing and she's now in Konoha, surrounded by Rookie 9, celebrating her 18th birthday, at a party Ino organized just before the start of the war.</p>
<p>Something wet touches her chin, and Sakura's illusion is dispelled for a moment. Blood is dripping from her mouth. She's reached a small pond where the waterfall falls, before turning into a river that runs through the forest. Brain clouded by pain, she takes a few more steps until she reaches the edge of the pond, where she ungracefully drops to her knees.</p>
<p><em>It's done,</em> her mind whispers.</p>
<p>She's too tired to fight it anymore and really, subconsciously she know that unless someone showed up with a semblance of an antidote or at least some chakra, she stands no chance. The dark waterfall becomes the most amazing sunset, and she's suddenly at the beach, on the peer where she'd once stopped with her team whilst on a mission with Suna. Kakashi is basking in the sun, reading his porn with no shame. Sasuke and Naruto take turns in jumping from the peer, both acting like children and Sakura giggles like one too; she's <em>happy.</em></p>
<p>Naruto's in the water and she's shouting at her to jump, he'll catch her. She takes one more look at the beautiful sunset, closes her eyes and leaps.</p>
<p>She falls head-first into the pond and darkness engulfs her.</p>
<p>Sakura feels no more.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shisui’s story is simple, he thinks.</p>
<p>After Danzo tried to take his eyes, he alerted the Sandaime.</p>
<p>But instead of the Sandaime cracking under the pressure of his so-called confidantes, he called Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha into his office, under the presence of two trusted ANBU, quarters sealed shut against any possible <em>benevolents</em>.</p>
<p>He had long heard rumors of the attempted coup from the Uchihas, but listening to <em>gossip</em> from Danzo and root had never served him well in the past. He was the <em>damn</em> Hokage and if he couldn’t ask some (rather) difficult questions, then he might as well give his hat to his 10 year old nephew.</p>
<p>Fugaku was taken aback at the question <em>are the Uchiha clan planning to overthrow Konoha?</em>.</p>
<p>But Mikoto’s eyes shone a dangerous black and after giving her husband a hard stare, she answered for both.</p>
<p>‘There have been… talks’.</p>
<p>Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, a heavy sigh in his chest, and for once in his lengthy life couldn’t immediately think of a solution.</p>
<p>Fugaku’s eyes were brewing a storm, his usual confident and no-nonsense manner not present. The Sandaime could not say if the agitation was directed at Mikoto, himself or the Uchiha clan.</p>
<p>‘Whilst we have not been directly informed about any concrete plans, many of our trusted clansmen seem to think that something is… happening in the shadows.’ he said.</p>
<p>Mikoto touched Fugaku’s hand in a reassuring gesture.</p>
<p>“Hokage-sama, we do not have any proof, but mere rumors. However, we are willing to assist you in any way to uncover whatever ploy may be taking place and avoid bloodshed and sorrow on both sides’.</p>
<p>Sarutobi nodded to the ANBU guarding the door.</p>
<p>‘Bring me Wolf’.</p>
<p>The ANBU immediately returned with –</p>
<p>‘Shisui!’</p>
<p>Both Fugaku and Mikoto were on their feet, rushing to Shisui’s side, who couldn’t look worse for wear. His eyes were swollen and purple, dried crusty blood on his face and Sharingan spinning.</p>
<p>‘An attempt was made on Shisui’s eyes, possibly on his life. The motivation behind was the rumored coup on Uchiha’s side. Shisui was labelled a traitor by the attackers.’  </p>
<p>Fugaku’s Sharingan was also burning. One hand on Shisui’s shoulder, the other one in a clenched fist.</p>
<p>‘Who did this?’ he asked in a low tone that promised to deliver instant punishment and death.</p>
<p>‘As Shisui recalls, several Root shinobi attacked him as he returned from an ANBU mission. He could not see their faces, but the fact that they <em>knew</em> who he was, <em>with his mask on</em>, speaks of the magnitude of the security breach.’</p>
<p>Nodding to Shisui, he continued.</p>
<p>‘Your nephew, however, proved he is a true Konoha shinobi. They ambushed him and removed his eyes, but he managed to use Susanoo and captured the nins, intent on handing them over to T&amp;I. Unfortunately, they committed suicide with help of their seals. Shisui left no trace of him behind, in case reinforcements were sent to the scene.’</p>
<p>He hesitated, anticipating Fugaku’s reaction.</p>
<p>‘As agreed with Shisui, we will not release the name of the initiator yet, but we can tell you that he’s part of Root.’</p>
<p>Fugaku quickly closed the distance to Sarutobi’s desk, rage and chakra crackling around him.</p>
<p>‘We will not stand for this! The Uchiha demand the name of this <em>traitor</em>! Any attempt on an Uchiha’s eyes is considered treason against the village and <em>we</em> will punish them according to <em>our</em> laws.’</p>
<p>Mikoto was still fussing around Shisui, but Sarutobi could also sense that her chakra was intensifying, almost scorching. Unsurprising, since Shisui had been mostly adopted by the main Uchiha family since his parents had passed away. She and Fugaku had treated him as their own son.</p>
<p>‘We have convened that actions have to be taken, but exposing the criminal could affect and endanger your family. Since he is the one with the main accusations regarding treason, his… <em>network </em>would most likely support him and also influence outsiders.’ Sarutobi heaved yet another sighed, not happy about what he had to say.</p>
<p>‘Truth be told, Root is an organization that cannot be controlled, as much as we would want to think that we can. The fact that they are also unpredictable does not help with us figuring out a possible outcome to this situation. Therefore we have to be diplomatic about it.’</p>
<p>Fugaku would have none of it.</p>
<p>‘Diplomatic?! The boys <em>eyes</em> were almost taken out.’</p>
<p>‘Actually uncle, they were actually removed for a few minutes, I held them in my hand…’ Shisui half-jokingly said, hand behind his head and a sheepish smile on his lips.</p>
<p>Mikoto blanched and squeezed his shoulder so hard that he yelped.</p>
<p>‘<em>Now is not the time to be funny, Shisui.’ </em>She deadpanned, dark chakra waves swirling around her.</p>
<p>‘Mikoto-san, Fugaku, we have discussed this with Shisui. He was unaware of the presumed Uchiha coup, but…’ Sarutobi delicately stopped.</p>
<p>‘Your <em>son</em> confirmed that he had been contacted by Root. Their message lies with Shukaku Nara, as neither Itachi nor I could translate it fully. But it is safe to assume that they conveyed information regarding the possible attack on behalf of Uchiha and quite possibly, threats were made.’</p>
<p>It made sense, they all thought. Itachi was the Uchiha prodigy, skills unparalleled to no-one and his pacifist nature had been well-known, as well as his loyalty towards the village. But most likely they didn’t count on Itachi conveying the message directly to the Hokage. Or did they? Then they had probably thought that the Hokage would clearly take their side, yet another reason adding to the eventual disgrace and perhaps even demise of the Uchiha.</p>
<p>‘I was not expecting a confirmation of the existing rumors regarding the possibility of the Uchiha rebelling. Therefore I do not have neither an answer or a solution. I do not wish to see the Uchiha distancing themselves even more from the village; in fact, we need to bridge the gap. Which means that we could use this information to our advantage, I just do not know how yet.’</p>
<p>He took a seat, looking older and more vulnerable than ever.</p>
<p>‘Based on what Shisui told me, the criminal did not expect him to survive, or at least remain in the village. We will keep it that way temporarily, until we can come up with a way to spin this for the benefit of everyone. Shisui, you will be under ANBU protection. I’m sorry that we have to keep you hidden, but it is for the best now. Mikoto-sama, Fugaku, we shall reconvene here tomorrow evening to further discuss this.’</p>
<p>Fugaku opened his mouth, ready to fight this even further. But it was Mikoto who spoke.</p>
<p>‘Very well, Hokage-sama. We trust you to take the best action suited for Shisui, our clan and our village.’</p>
<p>She said with a small bow.</p>
<p>‘But the culprit and Root will pay for this attempt, one way or another.’</p>
<p>Sarutobi could honestly say that she had never before seen her Sharingan eyes, until now.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The next day, it was settled by the Hokage, Shisui’s family, and the rest of the clan heads – whose presence had been requested as they were part of the deciding council and potential targets, just at the Uchiha were – that the criminal would we kept under strict surveillance, together with Root.</p>
<p>Sarutobi had expected more fight from the other clans, especially the Hyuuga and Yamanaka, who were known to be extremely protective of their kekkei genkai. What he did not expect, however, was the solidarity shown towards the Uchihas. Perhaps they had heard the rumors, perhaps they really did pity Shisui, who had always been well liked and respected in the village, but the Hokage was pleasantly impressed to notice that old rivalries were left aside and that everyone from the stoic Hiashi Hyuuga, to Chōza Akimichi and the Inuzuka’s and Nara’s were taking the Uchiha’s side.</p>
<p>They would all keep the secret and each of the clans would share their knowledge to their ANBU members, to increase protection and to also act as their eyes and ears.</p>
<p>Shibi Aburame and Inoichi Yamanaka were to be directly responsible of the surveillance to be done on Root and were tasked with creating comprehensive weekly reports for the Hokage.</p>
<p>‘I hope it is clear to everyone that what we discussed today will remain for our ears only. And most importantly, continue vigilance from everyone, but without making it seem too evident. We do not want to alert anyone that we are the ones doing the watching’.</p>
<p>Everyone nodded.</p>
<p>‘What about the kid?’ Hiashi asked.</p>
<p>Everyone turned to look expectantly at the Hokage.</p>
<p>‘Tomorrow we will announce that Shisui Uchiha has died in a mission, which will be classified. We will also create a fake mission with ambiguous details, to make it seem obvious to anyone unauthorized to read it that we do not know a lot about his disappearance and that we are trying to cover it up, but that we found traces of him which insinuate his death.’</p>
<p>Then, everyone was dismissed.</p>
<hr/>
<p>That had been over 7 years ago.</p>
<p>At first, Shisui was sent out to Suna. The Hokage and his advisors could not predict how long it would take for Root to be disbanded, Danzo was as stealthy as ever, so they started him out from the Sand Village.</p>
<p>Since Suna was a recent ally, he was not yet known in those parts, a fact which they used for his cover. Only the the Kazekage and his advisors had been informed, and for security reasons his name was changed. He was also not allowed to use his Sharingan whenever he took part in trainings with the village shinobi, all to keep the cover.</p>
<p>But eventually the relations between Konoha and Suna got better and tourism was encouraged. After the first few shinobi had begun transiting Suna, Shisui was sat down by Rasa and told that he had spoken with a close neighboring village which would accept his stay without a lot of questions.</p>
<p>So Shisui thanked him, packed his sole bag and left.</p>
<p>The village had been small, but it was what Shisui needed to keep a low profile. Then the missions from the Hokage began. They started out with assassinations, mostly enemies of Konoha and very few for financial reasons. But eventually, the missions grew longer and more dubious in nature, leading to him infiltrating a terrorist organization, mercenaries that fought for money.</p>
<p>He started using a mask so that no one could see his Sharingan. If anyone would’ve caught sight of Shisui using the kekkei genkai, he would’ve made the pages of the Bingo Book faster than he could spell ‘Uchiha’.</p>
<p>Sure, the missions for the organization were not pleasant, but he usually found way around the ones he didn’t condone. Not that there were a lot of those, was everyone really so <em>corrupt?</em></p>
<hr/>
<p>The meeting with Itachi had been the <em>hardest.</em></p>
<p>He wasn’t really expecting the kid to recognize him nor his chakra signature, but there he was, Sharingan spinning, in a field of <em>flowers.</em> It was almost poetic.</p>
<p>‘S-Shisui?’</p>
<p>Any way in which Shisui could’ve avoided this flew out of his head. He was desperate for his old life, for someone to know who he actually <em>was</em>. He took off his mask and half-grinned, one corner of his mouth lifting up but eyes uncertain.</p>
<p>‘You’ve grown a lot, Itachi-kun.’</p>
<p>And he had, his baby cousin Itachi was not a boy anymore. Tall as him, not as broad in the shoulders (but he would fill in later, he was what, 20?), and it looked like he had kept his hair long. He was sure breaking hearts already.</p>
<p>Itachi faltered, which didn’t happen a lot to him. His eyes even <em>glistened</em>. The usually stoic Uchiha, prodigy of the clan, Bingo Booked since he was 13, was about to cry.</p>
<p>‘I thought you were <em>dead.</em>’</p>
<p>Now this made for an awkward conversation.</p>
<p>‘Long story, cousin…’.</p>
<p>So Shisui told him, in detail, what had happened. The secret would forever be buried with them, but they had both shed a few tears.</p>
<p>They spent the whole day talking, from their family, to the village, to baby Sasuke’s new genin team and how his mother worshipped them. Apparently Itachi (and Mikoto) was quite obsessed with his baby brother, which meant that he had not only grown spoiled beyond means, but he was also quite broody because the attention he was given. The last time he had seen Sasuke, he still had chubby cheeks at the ripe age of eight.</p>
<p>‘Does the Hokage say when you can return?’</p>
<p>Shisui hesitated. It had been 5 years after all.</p>
<p>'Not yet. My position as a spy is too valuable at the moment, I am privy to information which Konoha cannot otherwise get.’</p>
<p>Itachi just nodded. He hadn’t heard anything about Root either, except for the seemingly random surveillance missions most of the ANBU had to participate in.</p>
<p>After a long hug, they parted ways.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sometime after four years, Hiruzen had been killed by Orochimaru. Tsunade Senju was made Godaime, and, as the immense slug had explained to him, she would crack up hard on Danzo and Root. Her intention was to bring Shisui straight home.</p>
<p>Then the war broke out, as Shisui had predicted. His instinct had been to return straight home, to Konoha, and help protect the villagers, but Tsunade (or rather <em>Katsuyu) </em>sent him a clear message: stay away until further notice, regardless of the circulating rumors.</p>
<p>His position as a spy was too valuable and it was only due to him that the attack on Konoha had been almost predicted, give or take a few days.</p>
<p>After that, it had taken almost 8 months to receive any message from Tsunade, and Shisui experienced <em>anxiety</em> for the first time. A foreign feeling to him. Not hearing any news from Konoha itself (Sound rumors really didn’t count, he suspected those were spread around to boost the missing nin’s morale and drive up the mission payments) was driving him almost insane and not once he packed his bag, ready to leave for his home.</p>
<p>He almost cried with relief when Itachi’s crow finally found him. Shisui was being called home.</p>
<p>After one month of preparation to leave the group without being followed and another one of travelling through war-ridden countries, he managed to arrive at Konoha’s border. A few more days and he would be home.</p>
<p>But then he saw the battleground, fresh with blood and bodies, and he stepped on a <em>Konoha headband? </em>The rest of (what was left of) the nins in the clearing seemed to have Sound or Cloud headbands, so could the victorious be a Konoha-nin? Picking the headband up, he looked around.</p>
<p>Sensing a faint chakra signature slowly moving away from the scene, he suppressed his own and trailed it. Sometime later he finally saw a silhouette in the background, heading towards the waterfall. He approached it slowly, but the shinobi either didn’t see him or ignored him intentionally. Then Shisui stepped in a small red puddle, a faint trail of blood leading towards where the shinobi was now standing, on the margin of the pond.</p>
<p>
  <em>Did they have pink hair?</em>
</p>
<p>The chakra signature was getting fainter by the second, so Shisui had no doubts that besides him or her being injured (as if the blood was not proof enough), the shinobi was also losing consciousness, which indicated that they might <em>dying</em>.</p>
<p>The injured shinobi fell to their knees, hands limp on the side. Shisui approached the pond, now merely 100 feet between them. She was staring up at the waterfall like something of interest was to be found there. Was his Sharingan missing something?</p>
<p>Then suddenly, she turned her head to look at him – <em>it’s a girl! </em>– and did she really have pink hair? He activated his Sharingan on instinct, but the girl was looking through him. Was she that injured? Thoughts swam in his head, from <em>she has pink hair!</em> to <em>she’s from Konoha</em> to <em>she fucking took down a platoon of Sound nins.</em></p>
<p>Before Shisui could put his thoughts in order, the kunoichi turned back around, stared again at the waterfall and <em>giggled </em>faintly.</p>
<p>Then she fell, head-first, into the black waters.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Cool, cool water, Sakura thinks, it’s so cold it burns. But Naruto’s there and she’s in his arms and he’s twisting her around, grinning from ear to ear as he twirls in the water, and they’re just <em>happy.</em></p>
<p>She squints at the sun, heat scorching on her face. When she laughs, it’s bubbly.</p>
<p>Strong fingers enclose around her forearm and she feels Sasuke tugging her, away from Naruto. She pulls back, hands around Naruto’s neck, but the damn Sasuke won’t let go. He pulls harder, then Naruto is not there anymore and the water is freezing on her skin, which suddenly feels numb.</p>
<p>Sakura lets out a moan of pain and then the sun goes missing. It’s dark all around her and she’s heavy, like she is sinking, except that Sasuke’s – <em>Sasuke’s? – </em>hand keeps pulling her. It’s the only sensation she feels anymore.</p>
<p>Then her lungs explode as Sakura’s head breaks out of the water.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Pretty sure that the girl is a Konoha-nin – and even if she isn’t, she’s still dying and he is <em>still</em> Shunshin no Shisui – he drops his small backpack and without any consideration for his sandals, dives head-first in the water after her, intent on saving the girl.</p>
<p>The pond is almost too dark, but he doesn’t need his Sharingan to see her because she has <em>pink hair.</em> She’s almost at the bottom of the pond, hair the color of cherry flowers and it floats like a halo around her. He doesn’t have time to ponder at the beauty of it and swims faster instead.</p>
<p>Just as one last weak bubble floats from her mouth – Shisui thinks it must be his imagination that she’s actually <em>smiling – </em>he reaches her arm and grabs it. The girl is deadweight for him and he briefly thinks that he should’ve, in fact, taken of his sandals to swim better. But then he infuses his feet with some extra chakra (it’s not really a waste, he argues) and quickly rising to the surface of the water, Shisui seizes the girl from beneath her underarms to push her first into the air.</p>
<p>There’s some faint coughing from her, but not enough. She should be throwing up gallons of water already.</p>
<p>Shisui lays her carefully on the grass and decides to endure the constriction of his wet clothes a little longer, while he places both hands on her chest to begin the 5 rescue pushes.</p>
<p>The girl is as pale as death and the little movement she presented when she was pulled out of the water is completely gone now, not even a shadow of a breath.</p>
<p>He counts to 5, then stops, hesitates for a <em>fraction of a second</em> before pinching her nose and chin and lowering his mouth to hers. He makes a seal between their lips, her iced lips a contract to his own warmer ones, and breathes into her mouth, trying to push the oxygen to her lungs. It lasts for one second before he removes his mouth, takes another deep breath himself, and does it again.</p>
<p>No reaction.</p>
<p>It’s been a while since Shisui’s done the CPR technique, but he thinks he should switch back to the pushes. Another five, then back to her mouth.</p>
<p>By the times he loses hope – Shisui has no real concept of patience – a little water dribbles on the side of her mouth, so he sees it as a good sign to keep pushing air into her lungs. His intuition proves right and he’s rewarded with a spurt of water into his own mouth and some even gets into his eye, but he’s too joyed to mind it.</p>
<p>The girl coughs and spurts, her body shaking violently until he realizes that she’s about to choke, so he uses one hand to swiftly turn her on he stomach, then keeps her on her hands and knees. It’s a good decision because she starts vomiting water mixed with slivers of blood, and there’s some snot running down her face. Her eyes are still closed tightly.</p>
<p>After some time, the girl finally calms down and promptly drops on her belly, bringing her loosely clenched fists next to her head, legs partially curled up and Shisui thinks that she might want to curl in a fetal position if she actually had the strength to do it.</p>
<p>Her head is on her side, facing him, and she takes a shuddering breath before opening her eyes.</p>
<p>Even swollen and surrounded by an angry red from the whole ordeal, Shisui thinks he’s never seen the forest in someone’s eyes before.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I checked if Susanoo can be used without the Mangekyo and it seems it can – once ‘activated’, it can be used regardless of the sharingan eyes, uh, being inside the user’s actual body.</p>
<p>I also took liberties with their ages, because. I think ages don’t really matter in the shinobi world anyway (I mean, look at Kakashi), but if anyone is curious and needs their ages to better picture the story, then here you go: Team Seven is 19 year old, Itachi is 23 and Shisui is 27.</p>
<p>Thank you for the kudos and the reviews! I also appreciate constructive criticism, so don’t be shy. It helps me improve :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura takes a shuddering breath and opens her burning eyes, vision still blurry from the time spent underwater. The water had numbed her body, but alerted her mind instead.</p>
<p>He <em>has</em> to be an Uchiha, it’s her first thought. There’s no need to see his Sharingan, she’s sure of it.</p>
<p>Sakura does her best to blink the water out of her eyes, slowly realizing that she is feeling her body again, though very sluggishly. Normally she shouldn’t be so laxed – he is an unknown man and they’re fighting a <em>war</em> – but her shinobi instincts are non-existent as she focuses all of her energy on healing what she can in her body.</p>
<p>Not that she has any chakra to spare on even <em>thinking</em> about defending herself, she notes fleetingly, just before the pain hits her again, and it’s all over her. Wherever the numbness from the cold water recedes, it’s instantly replaced by waves of pain and Sakura intensely feels the damage that the poison’s done – <em>still doing? </em>– to her organs.</p>
<p>She whimpers – a mock of the scream she wants to let out -  and her spine twitches, about to break out of her back. But then she feels his – the Uchiha’s – hand on her back, touching her in a soothing manner. She closes her eyes and wants to telepathically ask him to end her misery.</p>
<p>Sakura realizes that he’s talking to her. Maybe he heard her plea after all?</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Can you hear me?’</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>In-between worrying, Shisui notices the state of her clothes, not the usual shinobi attire but practical nonetheless. <em>And it’s almost all torn to pieces.</em> Bruises and cuts peak through her blouse and trousers, which are ripped from the fight she just took part in.</p>
<p>Then his eyes slide to a hole on the back of her blouse, exposing a gash the size of his palm. The freezing water may have closed it temporarily, but now it’s leaking blood again because of her thrashing around.</p>
<p>He touches her back, which is now almost convulsing, putting some pressure on her and willing her to stay calm.</p>
<p>‘Quite something you got here, blossom.’ <em>Blossom? Really Shisui? He</em> decides to analyze the moniker he got for her at a later, more appropriate date. His game or even socializing skills are really not what they used to be.</p>
<p>He keeps on talking to her, afraid that she’s losing consciousness and then he’ll really be in trouble.</p>
<p>‘The wound is still bleeding’ he mentions to her ‘And I don’t know a lot about healing chakra, so I’m afraid you’re out of luck with me.’</p>
<p>He lets out a shaky laugh, then slaps himself mentally. If the girl can actually hear him, he’s not helping her at <em>all.</em></p>
<p>Lucky for him, she doesn’t react. He wonders if that’s indeed for the best.</p>
<p>Shisui spares a glance to her face – her eyes are closely shut again and her small fists are still squeezed next to her head, he thinks she must be in pain – then back at the wound on her back. At a closer look, he sees small black tendrils around the wound, which are still visible underneath the blood. <em>Poison.</em></p>
<p>He reaches to his backpack, into the side pouch where he made sure to place a basic healing kit, together with what he generously calls ‘a selection of antidotes’. Which are in fact two basic cures for the most known poison categories. If he’s honest with himself, Shisui’s <em>too</em> <em>fast</em> to be poisoned. But he can pat his back another time.</p>
<p>‘I don’t know poisons, but I’ve got some universal stuff here… it won’t heal you, but let’s hope it stops spreading it at least. Then we can deal with the rest.’</p>
<p>The hole in her blouse is big enough for him to maneuver around without putting more strain on her, like cutting her clothes, and he opens the vial.</p>
<p>‘I have no idea it this will hurt or not, but try to keep still’ he says comfortingly, keeping one hand on her back.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sakura hears everything he says, but she cannot muster the energy to respond. To be honest, she cannot really think properly, or she would have more important thoughts on her mind like <em>don’t leave your back open to a possible enemy because not every Uchiha is on the good side</em>.</p>
<p>But she’ll have to wait for more chakra to make its way into her body, if that will ever happen, before she can deal with any other threats.</p>
<p>Then she hears him mumbling something about basic poisons and antidotes.</p>
<p>She wants to tell him that if it’s Orochimaru’s poison, then nothing ‘universal’ can work.</p>
<p>But miraculously, it does.</p>
<p>As the liquid touches her back, a cooling sensation spreads from the wound and she can <em>feel</em> it working its way through her body, her chakra quickly absorbing and almost feeding on the antidote, working together in sync to remove the poison.</p>
<p>It won’t heal the damage already done, but it stopped the poison from spreading, which is good enough.</p>
<p>She hears the man speaking again, something about how it already looks better, and she wants to say that it does indeed <em>feel</em> better. After a few more minutes or hours, she’s not sure, the poison has been completely transformed, her organs no longer under assault. She can focus on gathering her chakra and then healing herself.</p>
<p>Her mouth opens to say a ‘thank you’ before she falls into unconsciousness.</p>
<p>Now it’s up to her body to do the rest.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Everything fucking hurts.</p>
<p>By the time Sakura wakes up – <em>really</em> wakes up, because the few seconds of consciousness granted by her being moved around don’t really count – she’s in a cave, on her back, a fire happily cracking through the darkness, but she’s so exhausted that she can’t even move her leg off the tiny rock that is stabbing her calf.</p>
<p>‘Hey.’ A clear – cool voice calls to her, and she notices it sounds very boyish, but she knows for sure that she doesn’t <em>know</em> any boyish Uchiha and besides, aren’t all Uchihas broody by birth?</p>
<p>‘Hey’ Sakura croaks back and if it was a normal situation she would probably blush that she just freely showed her morning-demon-voice, but she’ll save the embarrassment for later.</p>
<p>‘Here, you’re probably thirsty’ he says whilst he moves around the fire and now Sakura can have a clearer look at him.</p>
<p>Tall, lean and handsome, but that’s the standard for Uchihas, yet there’s something inherently different from the rest. She blames it partly on his voice, partly on his messy hair, all very unlikely for men from that <em>particular</em> clan. But her conclusion is that he’s kind of pretty – ok, gorgeous.</p>
<p>Sakura tries to sit back on her elbows to make it easier, but he’ll have none of it.</p>
<p>‘Let <em>me</em>’ he presses, then without hesitation, he squats next to her, gently cups her head and tilts it upwards. He frowns, uncertain – he can’t give her water like this without choking her – puts the bottle down and gets on his knees.</p>
<p>Shisui uses both hands to cradle her head and body, and gently brings Sakura onto his legs so now she’s standing in a semi-upwards position. She wants to protest – his knee is kind of digging in the small of her back – but she’s maneuvered once again as Shisui removes one hand to grab the bottle of water and she’s now leaning partly on his stomach. Needles to say, she’s not very comfortable because he’s not <em>soft</em>.</p>
<p>His hands are strong and sure, and he handles her like he’s done this time and time before. There’s no hesitation when he lifts her head up at an angle.</p>
<p>Sakura flushes at the intimacy of the contact, it’s not every day that she’s cheek-deep in a man’s six-pack, but her muscles are too sore to move and she resigns the moment she feels the bottle touching the side of her mouth. Hesitantly, she opens her mouth to allow the liquid inside, and accidentally makes eyes contact with him.</p>
<p>‘There you go!’ and his voice is comforting.</p>
<p>She sees constellations in his eyes.</p>
<p>And oddly enough, for the first time in the last year, it’s only <em>now</em> that she feels vulnerable<em>.</em></p>
<hr/>
<p>Shisui thinks that she sounds like she’s been through hell and back.</p>
<p>
  <em>And no wonder.</em>
</p>
<p>Honestly, he thinks it has to be a miracle that the antidote worked <em>and</em> that she somehow managed to heal herself to an extent. He just hopes that she won’t have any permanent damage on her organs because Shisui might not be an expert on poisons but he knows how bad they can get.</p>
<p>It’s only after she’s leaning into his abdomen, drinking small sips of water at a time, that he notices how cold she is. The girl is not shivering but maybe she doesn’t even have the energy to do it. The contrast between their body temperatures makes him aware of the fact that she’s pressed so closely into him, and, if he were thinking about it (he does), in a rather compromising position. And they haven’t even been on one date.</p>
<p>Her lips suddenly close firmly and he takes it as a cue to remove the bottle from her mouth and he obliges, gently placing her back on the makeshift bed.</p>
<p>‘Thank you’ she whispers, her voice softer than the croak she let out before. He takes it as a good sign. And he also realizes that he likes her voice.</p>
<p>It suits her.</p>
<p>Shisui’s taken his time in studying her after he made camp in the first cave he found. Satin skin, rosy lips matching the color of her hair; eyes and cheeks are slightly sunken in, but war will do that to a person. He’s still in wonder of how she’s so petite, but she <em>obliterated</em> the Sound nin hours earlier.</p>
<p>‘Just a second’ he replies happily, then promptly gets up to feed the fire, hoping it would cut through the chill in the cave. It’s not ideal – the place is near the border and the sea, the winds are particularly strong here – but he was worried about moving her too much.</p>
<p>As he’s busy preparing an intricate system that will make the fire last throughout the night, he thinks he might as well introduce himself – mostly because he’s curious if she’s indeed from Konoha and as stupid as it seems, he needs to know if her name suits her.</p>
<p>‘Shisui’ he says with a toothy smile, quickly looking at her to make sure that she’s not asleep.</p>
<p>The girl blinks her enormous green orbs – <em>spring</em> – once, twice, then answers.</p>
<p>‘Uchiha.’</p>
<p>It’s more of a statement than a question, and he figures that she might know someone from his clan, and he waits but she doesn’t volunteer any extra details.</p>
<p>Shisui nods enthusiastically, poking at the fire.</p>
<p>‘Do you know any other Uchihas? I assume you would, there’s a lot of them in Konoha – wait, you <em>are</em> from Konoha, right?’ he rambles on.</p>
<p>The girl nods, then takes a deep breath, as if she prepares herself.</p>
<p>‘Yes and yes’. He expected a bit more, but considering her state, he’s happy just to find out that she’s not an enemy. Her eyes are now closed halfway and her body trembles a little. Shisui realizes that she’s shivering, which is a good sign – her receptors are reacting to the cold – but also bad because she’s already sleeping on his only blanket and he doesn’t have any other clothes to help her fight the cold. At least, he thanks her – their? – stars that their clothes have partially dried off.</p>
<p>‘Hope you’re okay with this’.</p>
<p>So he takes his cloak off, walks to where she’s laying and makes himself comfortable on the blanket with her whilst covering both of them with the cloak. With careful moves – because she’s still quite battered – he turns her on her side, then pulls her against his chest.</p>
<p>Her only reaction is a small groan from when he twists her around, but there’s no complaint otherwise so he takes it as an approval. One hand wrapped around her, cloak twisted close against their bodies, Shisui lends her his warmth and it doesn’t take long before she stops shivering and her breath steadies.</p>
<p>And just when Shisui thinks that she’s fallen asleep and he’s getting ready to follow her example, she whispers in the smallest of voices.</p>
<p>‘Sakura’.</p>
<p>
  <em>Sakura.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>A ray of sunshine hits Sakura in the eye and she winces.</p>
<p>‘Whoops, my bad’.</p>
<p>Groggily, she opens both eyes to see Shisui approaching her; he’s coming from outside the cave, confident steps and water dripping from his messy hair and onto his face.</p>
<p>He bends down, ready to pick her up and move her out of the sun and Sakura panics just a little. Now that she’s not worried about her liver being chewed away by the poison, she can get worried about her breath and other smells that might be emanating from her. She realizes that she doesn’t really know how long she’s been out.</p>
<p>‘I can get up, thank you’ she says, not unkindly.</p>
<p>Shisui frowns and touches her shoulder anyway.</p>
<p>To prove her point, Sakura lift herself on her elbows and yes, perhaps she is holding her breath just a little.</p>
<p>‘You’re still tired, here let me’. Shisui completely ignores her protests and picks her up from beneath her underarms, bringing her into a standing position.</p>
<p>‘Better? Now I bet you’re hungry, Sakura, I’ll give you some water first and we can eat some protein bars. Then we can make a plan for the rest of the day, we’re one day away from Konoha but let’s see first how you feel, I don’t want to put a strain on you, so we can take it slower.’</p>
<p>Sakura wonders <em>just what kind of Uchiha is he.</em> She knows several and unless it’s related to a mission, she didn’t know they could speak so many words in the same sentence.</p>
<p>She accepts the water bottle and protein bar and just watches him as he moves around their small camp, cleaning stuff up and sorting through the contents of his backpack.</p>
<p>Now that she’s fully rested and her chakra reserves are decent, Sakura sits up fully, a test really to see exactly how good or bad her situation is. Without performing a seal, she sends a weak wave of medical chakra throughout her whole body, starting with her head. The soft-green tinged chakra envelops her body, runs down the edges of her wounds then is absorbed inside her as she sighs at the cooling sensation.</p>
<p>Shisui’s eyes watch her closely, captivated by the display of skill.</p>
<p>‘You’re not related to Tsunade Senju, are you?’</p>
<p>‘I’m her apprentice, yes. Or used to be – before the war.’ Sakura supplies.</p>
<p>‘That’s some impressive skill, After I gave you the antidote your body started sort of healing itself and the green chakra targeted the poisoned wound specifically. I’ve only seen Tsunade-sama do that, but I didn’t know she’d taken on any apprentice.’ His voice trails off, a bit of uncertainty at the end, his head curiously tilted to the side.</p>
<p>Sakura frowns. It’s a well-known fact inside the village that she was not only the Hokage’s apprentice – it’s almost as known as Naruto’s desire to be Hokage – but that she’s also her personal assistant and vice-head of the hospital. Not to brag – but almost everyone knows her or of her.</p>
<p>But questioning him can wait. There are a few things she needs to take care of first.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Two hours later, Sakura partially smells like a human and her face and hair don’t shine with cumulated grease nor with leftover crusty blood. Her clothes are irreparably damaged and she’s lost her backpack on the battlefield, so she’ll just have to be content with tatters that’s her shirt now.</p>
<p>Shisui is resting just outside their small cave, hands behind his head, enjoying the sun.</p>
<p>The picture strikes Sakura as odd. They’re in a <em>war</em>.</p>
<p>But the whole ordeal of washing herself has winded her down, so she follows his example and slumps next to him.</p>
<p>‘What brought you in this side of the Fire Country?’ she decides it’s a fairly innocent question to ask him.</p>
<p>He answers without opening his eyes.</p>
<p>‘I’ve been on a very long infiltration mission, and it just ended.’</p>
<p>‘I assume it’s classified?’</p>
<p>He opens his eyes just to wink at her.</p>
<p>‘For now, yes.’</p>
<p>‘You must’ve been away for a long time then.’ Sakura tries. ‘If you didn’t know that Tsunade-sama has taken on an apprentice.’</p>
<p>‘That’s right. Much more than I wanted to.’</p>
<p>Then it’s Shisui’s turn.</p>
<p>‘So, what other Uchihas do you know?’ he doesn’t bother to hide the curiosity in his voice, because it’s been a damn long time since he’s heard any news from Konoha and it’s not like the Hokage sends him updates about the dwellings of his extended family.</p>
<p>His childlike curiosity softens Sakura.</p>
<p>‘My teammate is one, his name is Sasuke, quite the prodigy. And so is his older brother Itachi.’</p>
<p>And Shisui falters, because there is no way his little chubby faced cousin is the same age as Sakura. That would mean he is a man. And he cannot be one just yet, for Kami’s sake, the last time he saw him he was asking Itachi for help catching butterflies.</p>
<p>He forgets to blink, his brain wrapping around the information, and the mix of emotions he is feeling leaves him exhausted for a few seconds. Shisui is <em>hurt</em>.</p>
<p>Hurt that he’s missed out on the best years of his family’s life, and that he’ll never get them back. He wonders if Sasuke got his sharingan and how, how his chuunin and jounin exams were, how he wasn’t there to cheer him on.</p>
<p>Then there’s the hate. He hates, <em>hates</em>, Danzo and Root, wishes for their annihilation, wanting them to hurt as bad as he does for the memories that he’s missed.</p>
<p>But there’s also a slight pang of excitement, underneath it all. Shisui is going home and it will all be over. He can take it from there.</p>
<p>Sakura is not oblivious to Shisui’s shift in attitude – mostly because it’s all written on his face. Once again she’s in slight shock because she’s <em>never</em> seen an Uchiha display such a myriad of emotions, never in such a short time. She’s not even sure if their range allows them to feel more than one emotion at a time.</p>
<p>But just as she’s getting concerned for his well-being – that amount of feelings can’t be good for an Uchiha - Shisui breaks into a grin and then it’s her turn to be stunned. Because Shisui’s face radiates hope and he’s <em>gorgeous</em>. She doesn’t know where to look, at his slightly crinkled black orbs, at his perfect teeth, his smile a bit lopsided but even more suited for his face or at the way his nose slightly creases in the most adorable way.</p>
<p>‘They’re my cousins.’ He replies, and she can hear the pride in his voice.</p>
<p>‘I haven’t seen Sasu – <em>them</em>’ he corrects himself ‘In a long time, but I’m happy to hear that he’s been teamed with someone like you.’</p>
<p>Sakura doesn’t know what to do with his compliment, so she scoffs instead.</p>
<p>‘You should see our other teammate, Naruto. The two of them together, they’re basically gods.’</p>
<p>There’s no resentment in her voice, but he detects both pride and longing and a part of him wonders if there’s a hidden reason for the latter.</p>
<p>He gets to his feet and offers his hand to her. Shisui’s eyes twinkle with warmth.</p>
<p>‘We should get going, if we want to see Sasuke-kun soon.’</p>
<hr/>
<p>They walk slowly, because even though she’s not visibly <em>injured</em> anymore, the poison has left its mark and she doesn’t have the energy for more than a leisure step.</p>
<p>Which means that she also can’t ask him all the questions swarming in her mind. For instance, <em>how</em> is he an Uchiha? Because to say that Shisui’s atypical is a underestimation, he is like <em>something</em> <em>else</em> entirely. He speaks to her with a warm tone, like he’s known her forever, and he has <em>no filter</em>. He tells her about Itachi’s first crush, Sasuke’s diaper incident and his ticklish knees.</p>
<p>If she wouldn’t hurt so much, Sakura would probably be writing this stuff down for future party anecdotes and possible blackmail.</p>
<p>‘The sound-nin from the forest’ Shisui suddenly remembers. ‘You took them out on your own.’</p>
<p>And the way he says it, it’s not a question and there’s no skepticism – and it does something to her stomach.</p>
<p>‘They ambushed me when I arrived from Kiri, Sound-nins most likely’ she supplies.</p>
<p>‘I’ve spent two months making my way back to Fire, so I couldn’t let them stop me when I was so close. Seems like they still did.’ Sakura sighs.</p>
<p>He chuckles and brushes aside what he detects as frustration, because she <em>fucking</em> took down a battalion of dirty playing, rough Sound nins, on her own and with the littlest of help, she’s still <em>alive</em>.</p>
<p>And the sincere smile he gets in return is warmer than the sun.</p>
<p>Shisui walks patiently by her side, radiates comfort and safety, and when he notices that she hasn’t said a word in a while, her face is paler and there’s a slight coat of sweat on her temples, he offers to carry her.</p>
<p>Sakura refuses.</p>
<p>But she’s not even done voicing her protests before his backpack is already hung to his front and he’s squatting in front of her and doesn’t even wait before his hand wraps around her leg to bring it around his body. She loses her balance and slumps against his back, he grabs her other leg and her hands wrap instinctively around his neck for support.</p>
<p>She’s pressed flush against his back and he can <em>feel</em> her everything through the thin layer of clothes.</p>
<p>Sakura squeaks in embarrassment because <em>what the fuck.</em></p>
<p>Shisui gets to his feet and starts walking, oblivious to her mortification.</p>
<p>‘All good?’ he asks happily.</p>
<p>She hesitantly nods, then realizes he can’t see her. So she breathes out a ‘Thank you’ instead.</p>
<p>The shiver Shisui gets from her warm breath on his neck has <em>nothing</em> to do with the situation.</p>
<hr/>
<p>They make camp in yet another cave, stopping just before the sun sets. They each eat a protein bar and Sakura is out as soon as her head hits the makeshift pillow.</p>
<p>She’ll think about today’s events tomorrow.</p>
<p>But she dreams of glittering coal-colored eyes.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The next day Sakura’s feeling a lot better – most likely from being carried the day before – so they start walking each on their own. Both approve that Konoha is a few hours away and if everything goes well, they should reach it by late afternoon.</p>
<p>It’s now that she learns the war is, in fact, over. Or at least that’s what Shisui says, and it’s the reason why he’s been called home. Sakura doesn’t know what to do with this information because, <em>because it means so many things.</em></p>
<p>She wonders how did it happen and how many more casualties it took for a truce to form. How long will it take for everything and everyone to heal and then for life to go back to normal. It’s hard to imagine that they’re be able to go back to sparring just for the fun of it. Sakura is afraid of envisaging further than that.</p>
<p>Now that she has energy to walk and talk at the same time, she participates in the conversation and also tells him more about her teammates, Tsunade-shishou and amusing stories about Kakashi.</p>
<p>Shisui refuses to believe that Kakashi is her sensei.</p>
<p>Halfway through the day, Sakura realizes that Shisui doesn’t understand boundaries. Whether they’ve stopped for a break or to eat, his hand is on hers, on her shoulder, helping or guiding, he uses his shirt to wipe the sweat on her forehead and when they’re sitting on the ground and he’s reminiscing about his first mission with Itachi, his thumb is absentmindedly playing with a tear in her trousers.</p>
<p>He touches her with no restraint or caution and Sakura wonders if he’s always been this way or if he’s trying to readjust to human touch.</p>
<p>Because by now she’s certain that his classified mission was not regular and there’s a reason why he hasn’t kept in touch with his family, at least.</p>
<p>She doesn’t know why she doesn’t stop him.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When they’re attacked later by a few rogue nin, Sakura barely has the time to curse her predicament – her muscles can’t take the strain of even <em>throwing</em> a kunai – before Shisui springs into action.</p>
<p>He doesn’t ask her to take cover, he only makes sure none of them get close enough to <em>breathe</em> in her space.</p>
<p>Sakura’s in awe of his fighting skills, if she can even call them that. He is like smoke, intangible and dangerous. Everywhere, but nothing can touch him. The nin drop to the ground before they can make a sound and before they can even bleed from Shisui’s kunai.</p>
<p>When he shunshins, his chakra pulsates in the air and it’s so swift and formidable that it nearly brings Sakura to her knees.</p>
<p>And the fight is over before her eyes can even focus on their hitai-ate’s.</p>
<p>Shisui appears in front of her, a lopsided grin on his face and hair tousled. His eyes sparkle and she can discern a faint flush on the top of his cheeks from the rush of the fight.</p>
<p>His eyes are so intense and burn like coal; his smile is so natural and disarming that she feels her throat dry. He’s so close that she can count his <em>lashes.</em></p>
<p>‘Ready?’ he asks, then puts his arm around her as he guides Sakura through the forest.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The encounter set them back so they are forced to camp a second night.</p>
<p>She takes advantage of it, takes her time to properly study him and observes that he kind of reminds her of Sasuke. His intelligence, quirks, gestures – are they typical for Uchihas? – and she can’t ignore his physique or his clever, darker than abyss eyes, defined jaw, they’re the same traits which attracted her to Sasuke in the first place –</p>
<p>-and she’s not going down that road again.</p>
<p>There are no more caves, so they camp in the forest. Konoha is a few hours away and even though Sakura insisted that she can travel through the night, Shisui senses her chakra behaving anxiously – she’s a medic so her control should be in 90 percentile. Sakura dislikes that she’s been caught, but agrees.</p>
<p>Splitting the last of the ration bars between them as Shisui tells her about a particular mission, and Sakura realizes that even if he’s more carefree than the regular Uchiha, his laxed attitude stops when he needs to be a shinobi.</p>
<p>And she can’t help but be slightly envious of that. It’s the one thing she’s never managed to separate, shinobi from medic from civilian.</p>
<p>‘I wonder if Konoha looks the same’ Sakura muses out loud. ‘I haven’t been there in over a year’.</p>
<p>He understands that she wonders how much of it has been destroyed and he longs to tell her that he’s even more curious than her.</p>
<p>‘Will you go back to living in the compound?’</p>
<p>‘I – I guess I haven’t thought about that’ he falters, and Sakura sees the brief moment of sadness in his eyes. She winces and wishes she would’ve put her foot in her mouth instead.</p>
<p>‘I used to live in a house near the main family so that I could spar with Itachi easily and also take advantage of Mikoto’s rice balls’ he smiles ‘But I don’t know if it’s still… available’. He crinkles his eyes at her, but the smile he tries is not <em>his.</em></p>
<p>‘Mikoto-san’s rice balls, huh?’ Sakura smirks and looks him in the eye, ready to change the subject. ‘They’ve been in the middle of Team Seven fight more than once. Naruto and I once tied Sasuke to a tree because he wouldn’t share.’</p>
<p>‘Somehow I’m not surprised’ he chuckles.</p>
<p>Her tongue unconsciously brushes her front teeth, eyes glazed over in a memory of what they tasted like and Shisui’s own eyes follow it without realizing it.</p>
<p>They fall into a comfortable silence before Sakura takes the spare blanket and lays it on the ground in a makeshift sleeping bag. She can bear it, one more night and she’ll be <em>home</em>.</p>
<p>But then she hears a thump – and Shisui drops next to her, imitating her actions with his cloak instead.</p>
<p>She frowns.</p>
<p>He grins.</p>
<p>‘It’s <em>cold</em>’ he notes, rather obviously.</p>
<p>Sakura opens her mouth to – what? Shoo him away and <em>freeze</em>?</p>
<p>‘Shouldn’t we take watches?’ she attempts.</p>
<p>‘I’ve left a couple of clones and traps at the edge of the perimeter, we should be ok’ he promises, no trace of doubt in his voice.</p>
<p>‘I still think I should –‘ he’ll never know what she thinks she should, because he softly pulls the hand she uses a support and Sakura half falls to the ground. He’s fast – so fast that she’s already wrapped and tucked in the blanket, and Shisui pulls her next to him, one hand splayed on her ribs to keep her in place.</p>
<p>She’s not stupid to deny that his body provides both heat and protection, but her chest – why is it tingly on the inside?</p>
<p>‘Good night Sakura’ and the way he says her name in a breathy way, almost intimate, she needs to remind herself that they’ve only known each other for a couple of days.</p>
<p>‘Night’.</p>
<p>His breath is a warm comfort on her neck.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Shisui wakes up at the crack of dawn – and even though he’s excited to start their way as soon as possible to Konoha, he is selfish enough to steal a few more moments.</p>
<p>Because during the night, their limbs entangled and Sakura’s head is comfortably lying on his arm while his leg is carelessly thrown over her own, and both of her palms are pressed against his chest in an attempt – he assumes – to draw warmth. Shisui wonders if the reason why it feels so <em>good</em> is because he’s been deprived of human touch for so long, and now he’s attaching himself to the first human with a Konoha headband. Or he could just admit that <em>she</em> feels good.</p>
<p>Sakura is rough and <em>soft</em> in all the right places, and she sleeps in his arms like she belongs there.</p>
<p>She stirs, then groggily opens her eyes and they settle on him. For <em>a second</em>, there’s so much tenderness in them that Shisui knows it’s not for him – she thinks he’s someone else. There’s a slight pang in his chest, before he shakes it off and blinds her with his grin.</p>
<p>Which breaks her out of her illusion and realizing that she’s almost squashed against him, she quickly and wobbly gets to her feet.</p>
<p>‘Sorry’ she mumbles under her breath.</p>
<p>His grin widens.</p>
<p>‘No worry at all.’ He chirps while he gets to his feet.</p>
<p>‘Give me 15 minutes and we can be on our way.’ Sakura says grumpily as she leaves the camp.</p>
<p>And Shisui finds her flustering adorable</p>
<hr/>
<p>The walk to Konoha takes until midday and their chattering is reduced to almost zero. They’re both buzzing with anxiety at what they’ll find upon their return, and without agreeing, they quicken their steps.</p>
<p>When the village gates are in sight, Sakura can’t stop the grin forming on her face. Her chakra is bubbling with happiness and Shisui feels it.</p>
<p>It’s so cheerful that it’s contagious and it changes his own tenseness – because Shisui’s fucking heart is about to implode – to enthusiasm. Because even though he is by all means considered a chill guy, the truth is that he hasn’t been home in over 7 years and he doesn’t really know how to act.</p>
<p>In a sense, Shisui guesses he’s freaking out.</p>
<hr/>
<p>They pass the gates with no incidents, except for Izumo and Kotetsu gaping their mouths when they see Shisui, Even Sakura’s presence after being MIA for two months is ignored, because they <em>knew</em> Shisui, not personally, but from his ANBU accomplishments which were hard to overlook.</p>
<p>They bow and wonder and send a quick messenger to the Hokage before slumping on their chairs, now able to process that Sakura Haruno also returned, unharmed and <em>with</em> <em>Shisui Uchiha.</em></p>
<p>The look they send each other translates into <em>they’re getting hammered tonight.</em></p>
<hr/>
<p>Taking to the roofs to shorten their path, Sakura and Shisui arrive at the Hokage’s tower and they pass Mei, Tsunade-sama’s young receptionist who is too busy to bow to Sakura – there’s also a few tears and drama about how they never lost hope that she’s alive – and she can’t look Shisui in the eye without blushing.</p>
<p>They’re ushered towards her office and the knock is just for façade, because Mei opens the door excitedly and without hesitation, completely ignoring the voices that can be heard through the door.</p>
<p>‘Sakura?’</p>
<p>She can’t see who’s inside because a blonde lightning crashes into her and she’s left breathless, swept off her feet, her head is buried in Naruto’s neck and he smells like <em>home</em>.</p>
<p>His bones crack a little as she returns the hug.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Shisui takes in the sight and his chakra sparks just a <em>little</em> at the display of affection between the two and he <em>knows</em> he’s being irrational because he’s only fucking known her for two days and he has <em>no right</em> to be – he’s not jealous – but possessive?</p>
<p>His hands itches to grab her arm and pull her next to him, but a stunned voice calls him from the doorway.</p>
<p>‘<em>Shisui</em>?’</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter is more static than the others and frankly, I struggled with it.<br/>I'm not very happy with the way it came out, but I had to get it out of the way before the better parts come along.</p>
<p>Again, please review, it helps me improve :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It takes Shisui a few moments to realize that it wasn’t Itachi who had spoken, but Sasuke.</p>
<p>His baby-cousin, who he’d seen crawling after him and Itachi so that they’d help him catch butterflies, was now a man. As tall as him, shoulders broader than Itachi and his voice rough, Shisui feels speechless. Because even though he knows, he <em>knows</em>, it’s not his fault, he didn’t choose to leave his family, he can’t help feeling like he’s abandoned Sasuke – like he’s abandoned <em>everyone.</em></p>
<p>But Shisui cracks a smile nonetheless.</p>
<p>‘Sasuke-kun, you’ve grown a lot.’ He knows it’s lame, but what can he say?</p>
<p>The years away made him good at stating the obvious, apparently.</p>
<p>Everyone around him is now standing awkwardly, Sakura has finally let go of that Naruto person – he will think about <em>that</em> hug later – so Shisui consciously walks into the Hokage’s office, one hand tapping Sasuke’s shoulder as he passes by him. And Sasuke, honest to God, is gaping.</p>
<p>‘Uchiha, you’re finally back.’</p>
<p>Tsunade Senju addresses him like he’s her long lost nephew and he’s been away for a holiday. She’s nothing like Shisui expected, but to be fair, he’s never met any of the Sannin. He expected her to be older, somber and more – <em>more</em> <em>Hokage</em> <em>like</em>. Instead she blonde, busty and <em>young.</em></p>
<p>Though he can detect the faint traces of a youth jutsu hovering around her.</p>
<p>‘I wondered when I’d finally see your pretty face back here.’ Tsunade says whilst taking a sip from the sake cup placed next to some scrolls.</p>
<p>‘And good to see you’ve brought my student with you.” Sakura steps next to him, joined by the rest.</p>
<p>‘Tsunade-sama’ Sakura bows, and Shisui can hear the emotion in her voice.</p>
<p>Tsunade nods back, a satisfied small grazes her lips, then pours herself another cup of sake – surely this <em>cannot</em> be Hokage protocol or whatever?</p>
<p>‘This simplifies things. Your teammates here just got cleared for missions and were about to join the search party we sent for you a few weeks ago, <em>despite</em> my strong belief that you would return on your own.’</p>
<p>Naruto looks sheepishly at her and Sakura really doesn’t know how to feel. The emotion of being back trumps everything else, warmth at Naruto and Sasuke’s concern and pride at the Hokage’s trust. She hopes she can make it to her home before she bursts into fucking tears and pulls a Rock-Lee on everyone. Shisui’s been away for far longer than her and he isn’t behaving like a pansy.</p>
<p>‘When will you learn to trust my competence, Uzumaki?’ Tsunade scoffs.</p>
<p>‘Nee, Sakura-chan, Tsunade-baa-chan was right, we wanted to race after you when you disappeared from the field –‘</p>
<p>‘– hey! Show some respect brat!’</p>
<p>‘– but I had to stay and help everyone fight and then we won but teme almost got cursed by Orochimaru and – ‘</p>
<p>‘He what?’</p>
<p>‘– and both my arms got broken but teme’s brother brought reinforcements and – ‘</p>
<p>Sakura tunes out Naruto’s rant – not because she doesn’t care, she’s sure she’ll get a play-by-play later – but because she sees Sasuke fidgeting – actually fidgeting – and his eyes never left Shisui’s form once.</p>
<p>She vaguely hears Naruto stop to ask ‘<em>who’s that’, </em>but it remains unanswered.</p>
<p>‘You’re alive.’ Sasuke remarks, with just a hint of emotion which probably goes unnoticed by anyone else in the room.</p>
<p>Whatever hope Shisui had that Sasuke had learned more words than Itachi, dies in the moment Sasuke opens his mouth. The curse of the broody claims another Uchiha.</p>
<p>‘Good observation, otouto.’ Itachi makes his entrance and sweeps the room in one look, with a respectful nod to the Hokage.</p>
<p>‘Good to see you’re back, cousin.’ And Itachi honest to god, hugs Shisui. More than a pair of eyes bulge at the sight. She doesn’t know if she should be more shocked that Shisui had been presumed dead or that Itachi knew and Sasuke didn’t or that Itachi <em>hugged</em> someone.</p>
<p>Sakura also vaguely wonders if Sasuke will need life support throughout it all.</p>
<p>‘Sakura.’ He nods to her. ‘I’m pleased to see you’re safe.’</p>
<p>‘Itachi, you’re here. This works great because the mission will be partly declassified and your presence is required. Kakashi was expected here for a different reason three hours ago, so if I’m right –‘</p>
<p>There’s a poof and Kakashi appears on the window sill.</p>
<p>But it’s Shisui who beats everyone else to the punch.</p>
<p>‘Who did you help this time, Hatake?’</p><hr/>
<p>Tsunade explains and explains, aided often by Shisui, but Sakura’s brain stops functioning throughout it. Because it makes sense yet it doesn’t. Because she doesn’t comprehend how Shisui was a victim, yet he was the one receiving the utmost punishment – whether he realizes it or not. He was away from the village, alone, whilst Danzo and Root remained safely in the village and continued doing what they did without any consequences.</p>
<p>It <em>doesn’t</em> <em>matter</em> that they were under observation, it <em>doesn’t</em> <em>matter</em> that Shisui was valuable intel for Konoha, her heart breaks at how the third Hokage had failed to protect its loyal citizen, because why was Shisui away for so long? <em>How long</em> could it take to gather evidence against Danzo?</p>
<p>All of the small gestures and facial expressions she noticed during the days spent with Shisui make sense all of the sudden.</p>
<p>And her hear breaks a tiny bit more for him.</p>
<p>Shisui maintains his carefree appearance, smile present on his lips and eyes crinkling, but she wonders how troubled he really is and what kind of damage or scars the years away must’ve left on him. She wonders how he was <em>before</em> he left.</p>
<p>Sakura is not oblivious to the fluctuating chakras in the room, because Sasuke and Naruto are not exactly being subtle. Their annoyance can almost be tasted.</p>
<p>‘I’m not in a position to discuss the Third’s actions because it would be a one-sided conversation.’ Tsunade takes a deep breath.</p>
<p>‘Shisui, I wish I could’ve brought you home a lot sooner, as soon as I took position, but we were on the brink of war and Konoha needed you. In case you didn’t know –‘ Tsunade’s look sweeps the room ‘It was Shisui who warned us of the attack on Konoha at the start of the war. His intel saved a lot of people.’</p>
<p>‘We are in great service to you and we can only hope that your loyalty will be rewarded.’</p>
<p>Sakura bristles at the word ‘hope’ and Tsunade seems to sense this because she adds:</p>
<p>‘That being said, Hatake?’</p>
<p>Kakashi, who had leaned against the wall until that point, oozing boredom, straightens his back and puts his hands in his pockets.</p>
<p>‘Danzo and the majority of Root is in custody, chakra severed and awaiting further instructions.’</p>
<p>‘Ibiki is informed that they are not to be harmed, but I assume that it can up to interpretation.’</p>
<p>They all know exactly what that means and are also aware of Ibiki’s personal opinion of the underground group. They just hope some will be left alive for the interrogation.</p>
<p>Sakura takes a look at Shisui, who appears shell-shocked.</p>
<p>‘Just like that?’</p>
<p>And the realization hurts more. Because the power had been in the Third’s hands, and he could’ve changed Shisui fate, protected the village from within, but he hadn’t.</p>
<p>But things <em>will</em> <em>change.</em></p>
<p>Sakura breaks out of her daydreaming as her name is being called.</p>
<p>‘Sakura, you will be in charge of the trial against Danzo and Root.’ Tsunade takes another swig of the sake and she notices that the bottle is almost half empty. It had been full when they arrived.</p>
<p>‘You and Yamanaka will work well with Ibiki Morino and I <em>expect</em> a fair trial.’ She locks eyes with Sakura and the meaning is understood to her. ‘Root has been a plague to this village for far too long and I want to see it end.’</p>
<p>The last of her words hang in the air.</p>
<p>‘Dismissed.’</p>
<p>Itachi is the first one to react.</p>
<p>‘Shisui, mother and father should be made aware of your arrival.’ But Shisui’s eyes are locked onto Sakura’s form as a sort of anchor and he hesitates before following Itachi.</p>
<p>‘Shisui. Make sure you pass by the hospital for a routine check. Then we can discuss you reentering service.’ Tsunade says before exit the office.</p>
<p>‘Hai, Hokage-sama.’</p>
<p>When they’re right outside the office, Sasuke seems to remember something and awkwardly puts a hand on Sakura’s shoulder, then pulls her into a hug. Sakura stills because Sasuke <em>never</em> hugs her unless it’s her birthday. And when he gently squeezes her hip, she <em>blushes.</em></p>
<p>It’s Naruto who calls them out.</p>
<p>‘Eww, teme, can you back to being broody and uptight?’</p>
<p>Sasuke glares at him and releases her, but it takes Sakura more than a few moments to recover.</p><hr/>
<p>There’s a lot of blabbering from Naruto as they leave the building and it’s odd to Sakura how easily they fall back into their pre-war habits. There’s no awkwardness – well, except from Sasuke who just found out his first cousin is alive – but even Kakashi seems to take it in a stride and makes small talk with Shisui.</p>
<p>They cross paths with Genma just as they’re outside the tower. Hands in his pockets, smirk on his face, he nods towards Shisui.</p>
<p>‘Uchiha, heard you were back from the dead.’</p>
<p>Sakura assumes from Shisui’s grin that they are old friends.</p>
<p>‘Genma, they’ve still not retired your old ass I see.’</p>
<p>‘Someone had to work while you were away on a <em>vacay.’ </em>He smirks back and Sakura is surprised to notice that Shisui’s grin widens. Does he get upset about <em>anything?</em></p>
<p>‘And you even brought back my favorite Jonin.’ He adds with a smile that would be lecherous on anybody else, but this is Genma and flirting is like breathing for him. ‘Sakura, sweetheart, I haven’t seen you in ages. What about a hug?’ Genma extends one of his arms and Sakura makes a move towards him because she <em>really </em>likes Genma not in that way, but he’s always so positive and happy that she cannot deny him the hug he apparently wants.</p>
<p>As she takes a step towards him, Sakura realizes that she cannot move. There’s a chakra flare and suddenly Kakashi’s hand is gripping her vest, Sasuke’s hand in on her head and Itachi’s on her shoulder. Naruto seems oblivious for the moment.</p>
<p>‘Whoa, boys, no need to get overprotective. I just wanted to greet Sakura back to Konoha…’ he says, but Sakura feels the guys’ grip tighten on her and she notes that the only way to get to Genma is to fight her way out of it. And that’s <em>not</em> taking the Kyuubi into account.</p>
<p>Sakura sighs. ‘Maybe next time, Genma-senpai.’</p>
<p>Kakashi bristles.</p>
<p>There’s a faint chuckle before Genma turns around nonchalantly. ‘Looking forward to seeing you around.’</p>
<p>‘Sakura-chan, let’s go home. I’m staying with you until I can get a new apartment because my old room got blown up.’</p>
<p>Sakura’s brain stops processing words because Naruto <em>cannot</em> be serious. Living with him would be like taking care of 10 hyperactive small children <em>and</em> their puppies.</p>
<p> ‘Good day, Sakura-san.’ Itachi says before turning around with Sasuke and Shisui.</p>
<p>Shisui watches Kakashi and Naruto entwin arms with her and almost pull her from the spot she’s rooted in, as they leave for their homes.</p>
<p>He idly plays with Sakura’s hitai-ate, which is tucked in the pocket of his trousers.</p><hr/>
<p>Sakura learns that Naruto has been in fact living in her apartment for over a month. And how she notices that? By the vast amount of ramen cups littering her kitchen and living room and – and she even finds some in the bathroom but Kami, she hopes that he’s been taking baths and indulging in treats. And not what actually most likely happened.</p>
<p>There are a few shouts from Sakura and a few tears from Naruto, but he should consider himself lucky that no blood has been spilled – mostly due to the fact that Sakura decorated her apartment in nuances of beige, grey and butter so she really wants to avoid anything that could stain. She contemplates that as she sees Naruto lugging the trash out of the apartment and sets out to sorting the rest of the stuff, which is rather intact. Sakura assumes it’s due to them being too busy after the end of war, with reconstructions and patrols and alliances being made. Her heart squeezes a bit more. She’s <em>home.</em></p>
<p>By the time Naruto finishes with the garbage, Sakura has tidied up the apartment – thankfully he didn’t make camp in her bedroom and took the guest one instead – and she’s preparing two cups of tea for the cozy evening that will surely follow.</p>
<p>Naruto is – flaws and babbling and ramen and all – her brother at heart.</p><hr/>
<p>Sasuke is oscillating between leaning against the wall and throwing his hands up while yelling <em>what the fuck</em> – which he would never do, because he’s an <em>Uchiha</em>.</p>
<p>Because apparently his mom and dad <em>both</em> knew about Shisui being alive. Was he too stupid to be told? Were they expecting him to run around the village yelling about Root and their assassination attempt?</p>
<p>
  <em>What the fuck!</em>
</p>
<p>It turns out that his parents were even more in the loop than Itachi, who only found out a few years ago, and even worse, the other clan heads knew.</p>
<p>As he learns, it was the Hyuugas and Yamanakas who managed to bring Root to justice, thanks to surveillance done by the other clans and their hatred for what the organization altogether, but it was his own father that managed to capture Danzo when he attempted to flee the village after his shinobi were apprehended. There’s a slight satisfaction in him when he notices that not even Itachi knew about it. At least they were both kept in the dark.</p>
<p>So much for proving he doesn’t have a brother complex.</p>
<p>‘And you’ve met Sakura-chan!’ Mikoto clasps her hands enthusiastically and Sasuke could swear that her eyes shine a bit.</p>
<p>Itachi glances at him, then at Shisui. It’s not such a well-hidden fact that Mikoto is determined to make Sakura part of their family, and seeing as she’s had no luck with either Sasuke nor Itachi, she might set her eyes on Shisui.</p>
<p>‘We need to invite her to dinner soon, celebrate that she’s back. And that you are back! We will host a party, that’s what everyone needs in these times.’</p>
<p>There’s a small attempt on Fugaku’s side to interfere, but there’s no stopping Mikoto’s frenzy.</p>
<p>‘Something classy to let everyone know that you’re alive and well, and we will invite the other clans to show our gratitude that they’ve helped.’</p>
<p>Shisui can’t help feeling a bit excited at the thought of seeing Sakura again.</p><hr/>
<p>The next day in the afternoon, Shisui finally ventures out to take a stroll around the village. He was probably expecting more, but in all honesty, nothing has <em>really</em> changed.</p>
<p>But he’s been fighting the feeling that something is missing and it’s odd, because he finally has everything back in his life, so what’s wrong?</p>
<p>It’s only when he notices a huge dome shaped, chrome building on which bold letters spell ‘Konoha Residential Hospital’ that he realizes why.</p>
<p>Oh. <em>Oh. </em></p>
<p>The first shock is for the building, because Shisui swears that when he left the village, the hospital was more of an infirmary and <em>definitely</em> did not look like this.</p>
<p>The second is because the moment his brain makes the connection, he wonders if he can get any weirder and stalkerish than he is at the moment. Honestly, it’s been one day. He also wonders if she’s thought of him.</p>
<p>Shisui grins, because Tsunade-sama did ask him to go for a checkup.</p><hr/>
<p>Sakura is equal parts of pissed and happy because the hospital hasn’t been doing that bad, really. Which is saying something, seeing that the staff didn’t manage to catch a break during and after the war ended. But her firm hand in handling the stocks and supplies has been absent and it can be seen everywhere. She has no doubt that Tsunade would’ve approved of the budget needed to buy medicine and props, if anyone had bothered to <em>order</em> them.</p>
<p>She’d have to train someone to take over when she’s not around.</p>
<p>But her shift had ended and Sakura is arranging some next day appointments at the reception when both entrance doors burst open and there’s a flash of yellow. Since there’s no holler of ‘Sakura-chaaan’, it can only mean it’s-</p>
<p>‘Forehead! Took you long enough to come back.’ Ino struts in as if she owns the place, hands on hips and said hips swaying..</p>
<p>Sakura grins with all her teeth.</p>
<p>‘Pig! At least I’m not coming back from catching Tora cat, like you.’</p>
<p>Ino squeals and hugs Sakura, pulling her up from her feet.</p>
<p>‘You’ve go to tell me everything over dinner. I’ll get cleaned up and meet you in the village-‘</p>
<p>There’s a slight cough and both girls turn around to see Shisui standing in the doorway, figure laxed and an amused expression on his face.</p>
<p>‘Wow, who’s the hottie?’ Ino says in what she assumes it’s a whisper, but can be heard by everyone in the foyer.</p>
<p>‘Ino, meet Shisui Uchiha. He’s, uh, Sasuke-kun’s cousin.’ Sakura stumbles over her words. Why is Shisui <em>here</em>?</p>
<p>‘Uchiha, huh? I know every Uchiha but I haven’t seen you around. And trust me, I’d remember you.’ The worst thing is, is that Ino is not even flirting. This is how she is.</p>
<p>Sakura wonders how she can translate that to Shisui.</p>
<p>But then Shisui smirks a little and his demeanor changes and Sakura realizes that there are more sides to him than she thought, brought on by being home. He’s smug, masculine and jaunty – she takes a deep breath.</p>
<p>He’s <em>nothing</em> like Sasuke.</p>
<p>‘Nice to meet you –?’</p>
<p>‘Ino Yamanaka’ she says and swings her ponytail back before she stills, then realizes something. Ino narrowes her eyes and looks at Sakura. She’s not the leader of T&amp;I for nothing, hence Sakura gulps.</p>
<p>All the flirt has gone from Ino’s moves and Sakura sees the wheels turning.</p>
<p>‘So how do you know my bestie here?’</p>
<p>‘Sakura and I met when I was returning to the village, I’ve been away for a while.’ Shisui’s eyes slide to Sakura.</p>
<p>‘Yes, Shisui helped me when I was poisoned then travelled together here.’</p>
<p>Before Ino can ask any more questions, Sakura intervenes.</p>
<p>‘Shisui, what brings you to the hospital?’</p>
<p>‘Hokage-sama has ordered a check-up so I thought why wait?’</p>
<p>Her tone turns business-like when she says ‘We usually do the regular shinobi check-ups in the morning, most of the medics have gone home for the evening except for those on duty-‘</p>
<p>‘Forehe- <em>Sakura</em>, I’m sure you can fit Uchiha-san in for the evening, I can wait until tomorrow for our outing.’</p>
<p>‘But I-‘</p>
<p>But Ino is already maneuvering her back into the cabinets area, waving a hand dismissively.</p>
<p>‘No point in keeping our shinobi waiting, he surely needs his check-up done so he’s up and running for missions.’</p>
<p>Sakura doesn’t have time to glare before Shisui joins her and they’re off to the closest check-up room.</p>
<p>‘See you tomorrow Sakura!’ and Ino trots out of the room, a knowing smile on her face.</p>
<p>Really, she’s too <em>good.</em></p><hr/>
<p>Refusing to let it become awkward, Sakura presents Shisui to a chair and reaches for a new patient file. She writes his name in bold letters, then stares at them for at least 10 seconds. A pink eyebrow twitches and she frowns, like she can’t decide.</p>
<p>Shisui smiles.</p>
<p>She frowns a bit more.</p>
<p>‘It’s a bit odd for me, most of our shinobi have patient files since they are very young. But I assume yours have been completely destroyed and they wouldn’t matter anyway because we’ve missed years of data.’ She trails off.</p>
<p>He entwines his hands and waits patiently, blinking lazily at her.</p>
<p>Shisui is amused by her discomfort.</p>
<p>‘I guess we can start with some of your known health issues, any surgeries or immune diseases?’ Sakura trails off, a slight frown on her face.</p>
<p>‘I’ve been pretty healthy my entire life.’</p>
<p>‘Something that runs in your family perhaps?’</p>
<p>‘Not that I know of.’ He replies a bit dry.</p>
<p>‘I guess you haven’t seen a medic in uh…’ She trails off and winces a little.</p>
<p>There’s a bark of laughter from Shisui. ‘I didn’t really have the chance to make appointments, Sakura.’</p>
<p>Ok, that wasn’t very well thought of. ‘Any particular events you’re aware in you childhood? Any poisoning, fractures?’ He’s really not giving her anything to go on.</p>
<p>‘Except for Danzo removing my eyes, I guess there weren’t any-‘</p>
<p>There’s a sharp intake of breath from Sakura and she narrows her eyes.</p>
<p>‘I would consider that a ‘particular event’, <em>Shisui</em>.’</p>
<p>He’s unfazed.</p>
<p>‘I’ve put them back in immediately, so it’s not a big deal.’</p>
<p>‘<em>Yourself?</em>’ She almost spits the words out with incredulity. ‘Why weren’t you attended by a medic?’</p>
<p>‘Nee, Sakura, medicine was not that evolved a few years ago, the hospital didn’t exist back then.’ He gives her a pointed look, but not unkind. ‘Not to mention the whole faking my death thing.’</p>
<p>Sakura is torn between feeling awkward – of course, if everyone thought he was dead, he couldn’t just <em>walk</em> into a hospital and ask for his iron levels to be checked – and incredulity at the fact that he literally put his eyes back in his head.</p>
<p>‘How did you even do it? What if you had health issues afterwards, like amblyopia?’ she says as she removes herself from the chair, opening the desk to pull out some gloves, a thermometer and some syringes for blood work.</p>
<p>Shisui wisely decides to keep his mouth shut. The questions are rhetorical, after all.</p>
<p>‘You can change behind the paravane.’ Sakura waves a hand to the small alcove on the side of the room.</p>
<p>‘Excuse me?’</p>
<p>Sakura looks up at Shisu, her hands still sorting through the medical kit. ‘Full check-ups require a hospital gown.’ She slowly states, matter-of-factly.</p>
<p>Her poker face is almost perfect, except for the tiniest of tilts in the corner of her mouth. She’s <em>enjoying</em> this a bit.</p>
<p>‘We have to do height, weight, reflexes, chakra paths, blood samples and an <em>eye exam.</em>’ She scowls at the last part.</p>
<p>Shisui wonders if there’s any way he can save himself. He wants to protest – but he can’t get the words out before she’s on to him.</p>
<p> ‘It’s not <em>my fault</em> you missed almost 10 years of physical check-ups. We don’t usually do this all at once, they’re a bit more spread out.’</p>
<p>Shisui is distressed.</p>
<p>Sakura doesn’t even look at him as she states the facts, her nose buried again in his chart, writing down things Shisui doesn’t even want to know, so he walks behind the paravane and perhaps – perhaps there’s a way he can spin this.</p>
<p>So Shisui strips down to his boxers and waves away the gown Sakura is offering, walking barefoot to the examination table.</p>
<p>Sakura gapes for two reasons. First, the audacity.</p>
<p>Second, she hadn’t thought of herself as being shallow. But Shisui is stunning on a whole different level.</p>
<p>He’s bulkier than Itachi, yet lean at the same time. Tanned skin marred by typical shinobi scars, Sakura thinks he’s perfection as she tries to kill the blush threatening to stain her face and chest.</p>
<p>Shisui plops down on the bed and smiles at Sakura’s lingering stare.</p>
<p>‘It wouldn’t fit anyway.’</p>
<p>She snaps out of it and narrows her eyes – because it’s bullshit. Seems like he’s begging for a prostate exam <em>as well.</em></p><hr/>
<p>Sakura’s in awe at his physical condition – not that she would ever tell him that – and once again curses the Uchiha’s for their superiority as – as <em>everything</em>.</p>
<p>‘You slouch.’ She states – it’s really the littlest of slouches – but she’d determined to find something wrong with him. ‘How very un-Uchiha-like.’</p>
<p>Shisui scrunches his nose.</p>
<p>‘Mikoto-oba’s been saying that since I was a kid.’</p>
<p>Her stomach is in knots – he’s adorable – but she needs to exploit this a little.</p>
<p>‘I need to check your spine, you might have scoliosis and that can aggravate into –‘</p>
<p>‘-death?’ His grin is toothy and she frowns back.</p>
<p>‘Now you’re going to have to turn around and bend a little for me.’</p>
<p>There’s a second – a pause, he doesn’t want to overstep – then ‘Isn’t that supposed to be my line?’</p>
<p>Sakura catches his grin as he turns around and pokes him with a chakra enhanced finger as punishment. Shisui doesn’t even flinch.</p>
<p>Why does he <em>always</em> come on top?</p>
<p><em>Damn.</em> She’s not making this easier for herself either.</p>
<p>Sakura traces his vertebra, the tip of her fingers glowing green as she’s searching for any misplacements or trapped nerves.</p>
<p>Shisui enjoys her innocent touches as she works her way down his spine – it soothes and tingles him at the same time, the sensation spreading all around his back and leaving goosebumps in its wake.</p>
<p>‘I can heal this better.’ He hears her say as she traces a purple healed scar on his shoulder.</p>
<p>He just shakes his head and hums. Sakura takes it as an approval and boosts her chakra before pouring it into the old wound. It takes seconds – it’s her specialty after all, that and chakra control – before the scar isn’t visible anymore.</p>
<p>She runs her whole hand over the clear skin and Shisui’s shoulder twitches slightly.</p>
<p>The tingle in her fingers has nothing to do with chakra anymore.</p>
<p>Sakura is less than a foot away from Shisui’s body, so there’s little time to react before he turns around in her involuntary embrace and suddenly he’s towering over her and his body heat is overwhelming.</p>
<p>Sakura lowers her eyes because she can almost <em>taste</em> his breath.</p>
<p>‘Your-your eyes, we should start working in your eyes.’ She swallows and her only functioning brain cell wonders if she’s destined to forever behave like this in front of an Uchiha.</p>
<p>Shisui sits himself back onto the bed and it’s his trusting and expecting face that confuses her. Except for Sasuke – whom she’s known <em>forever </em>– and Itachi, who respects her as a comrade, she’s never been allowed to test any Sharingan eyes before.</p>
<p>‘Ok, this might feel a bit weird.’ She says before touching Shisui’s temples with her fingers and pouring individual strands of green chakra into his head.</p>
<p>There’s a soft sigh from Shisui and he closes his eyes.</p>
<p>‘It feels nice.’</p>
<p>‘For now. It will feel a bit more aggressive as I reach the optic nerve and retinal blood vessels.’</p>
<p>Not a second passes before Shisui’s forehead creases as Sakura’s chakra reaches his nerves.</p>
<p>Shisui can’t stop his hands – doesn’t want to – as they reach on their own to grab her hips because it’s the only thing he can do to avoid pushing her and her chakra away.</p>
<p>‘Your nerves are slightly inflamed – not as much as I would expect from putting your eyes <em>back inside</em> <em>by yourself</em> – and I can see several blood clots and fragments of tissue which cause this inflammation.’</p>
<p>Her chakra turns slightly blue and the pressure on his eyes eases. ‘Turn on your Sharingan for me.’</p>
<p>He does and he’s taken aback at how <em>clear</em> he can see the tiniest of freckles dotting her nose and – there’s one in her eye as well. Her hears fragments of what she’s saying but he’s too focused on the view.</p>
<p>‘Some chakra paths in the eyes were blocked, they mainly lead to dead-ends because they weren’t connected through the correct procedure.’ Sakura continues, steadily pouring chakra into his temples and destroying the blood clots and healing the paths. ‘With proper nerve correction and a few healing sessions, the chakra paths should be realigned and you’ll be good to go.’</p>
<p>She needs to keep talking because his stare is unnerving.</p>
<p>‘Of course, Tsunade-sama is an expert on the Sharingan, she’s the private healer of the Uchiha clan and wants me to take over-‘</p>
<p>‘Your chakra feels good.’ Shisui suddenly says, voice rough and Sharingan burning.</p>
<p>‘It’s healing chakra, so I’d expect-‘</p>
<p>‘<em>No.</em>’ He presses and pins her with his stare. ‘<em>Your</em> chakra feels good. Like cool spring water.’</p>
<p>She doesn’t really know what to say to that.</p>
<p>‘Like I’ve said, with proper care and treatment we can avoid the deterioration of the vision. Tsunade-sama-‘</p>
<p>‘Can you treat me instead?’</p>
<p>‘She’s the official healer and researcher so I don’t know what Fugaku-sama’s opinion would be.’</p>
<p>‘<em>Sakura</em>. I think I’m at a point in life where I can at least decide who can treat me, don’t you think?’</p>
<p>She blinks.</p>
<p>‘And I want it to be you.’</p>
<p>‘Okay?’</p>
<p>‘Good.’</p>
<p>They don’t notice that his hands are <em>still</em> on her hips until he removes them.</p>
<p>‘Then if we’re done here, let me escort you home.’</p>
<p>Sakura wonders why she cannot think of a single reason he shouldn’t.</p><hr/>
<p>Sakura makes the mistake of taking the home-route through the market, and Shisui is excited and wants to try <em>everything</em>.</p>
<p>For the hundredth time she wonders how can he be an Uchiha because the display of emotions is unreal. Uchihas <em>don’t </em>get excited when they see panda-shaped onigiri.</p>
<p>‘Let me treat you to something to say thank you.’ Shisui says when Sakura eyes the Botchan dango served in one of the stands.</p>
<p>There’s not enough time to protest because Shisui is already chatting with the old lady who is smitten with him, handing money over the counter and smiling. </p>
<p>‘That’s a pretty lady you’ve got there, Uchiha-sama.’</p>
<p>Sakura flushes.</p>
<p>Shisui doesn’t hesitate before answering ‘She’s lovely, isn’t she?’ as he grabs the two plates from the old woman.</p>
<p>‘Here, take this strawberry mochi to share.’ She says as she winks as Shisui.</p>
<p>Why isn’t Shisui <em>stopping</em> her? Sakura muses and wills her flush to go down because he cannot know the effect he has on her because it’s all just <em>teasing.</em></p>
<p>Finally their weird banter stops, Shisui holds the two paper plates with one hand and grabs hers with the other to steer them away to a nearby bench. He sits both of them down and offers her a plate.</p>
<p>Sakura thanks him a she picks up one of the dango sticks and bites into it before humming in pleasure.</p>
<p>‘This is the best thing ever.’ She says in-between mouthfuls, and Shisui could swear her eyes are almost sparkling.</p>
<p>‘My brain-damaged teammates always want to go to Ichiraku’s or the grilling shop, it’s a treat when-‘</p>
<p>She stops when Shisui’s hand reaches out to move a few stray hairs over her ear.</p>
<p>‘They were in the sauce.’ He says nonchalantly. Sakura gapes.</p>
<p>‘What?’ And Shisui laughs a little, the edge of his voice is softer and his eyes warm. It envelops her like the best kind of hug and for a moment she imagines it means more. She wonders how it would be like if it were <em>more.</em></p>
<p>Sakura shakes her head because Shisui is staring at her staring at him and he sees the question in his eyes.</p>
<p>‘Are you –‘</p>
<p>‘This is the best dango I’ve ever had.’ Not so subtle at diverting his attention but it works and he starts eating his own as well.</p>
<p>They finish their portions and Shisui quizzes her about her work at the hospital.</p>
<p>‘When do you have the time to assist the Hokage then?’ He asks, head cocked to the side, because he really can’t conceive how this 19 year-old girl – <em>woman </em>– can run a hospital, go on missions <em>and</em> play politics with the head of the village.</p>
<p>Sakura shrugs because it is a big deal, but she doesn’t like to brag about it.</p>
<p>‘It keeps me busy and it beats wasting time at home. I can help people and the missions keep me in shape, because I’m a shinobi after all.’</p>
<p>Shisui smiles and points at her with the dango stick.</p>
<p>‘That’s not what I asked, <em>Sakura.</em>’</p>
<p>She sighs, <em>because.</em></p>
<p>‘Tsunade-sama mentored me to become a medic-nin.’ She starts.</p>
<p>‘But you finished training some time ago.’</p>
<p>‘That’s… correct. Naruto’s – my teammate – dream is to become Hokage. I don’t come from a clan so I don’t have any influence or saying in what goes on in the council, which is where Sasuke and your family comes in. Naruto and Sasuke are both idiots and they argue to show it, but they actually care about each other and Sasuke’s been backing Naruto up for years, building him up with your clan and teaching him clan politics. When the time comes, I’m sure Itachi will vote for Naruto to become the leader.’</p>
<p>Shisui looks at her expectantly, black orbs thoughtful.</p>
<p>‘Tsunade-sama offered me the assistant position when I turned 16 and I realized that I might be able to help Naruto with etiquette and uh, let’s call it <em>inside info</em> about the dwellings of a Hokage. Meaning that I keep an eye on what happens with our allies and tell Naruto about legislation, practices and so on. He doesn’t really have any other ways to access this information, so I figured it’s the least I could do.’ She shrugs again and looks at Shisui.</p>
<p>Who’s eyes burn with something she can’t decipher.</p>
<p>‘That is amazing of you, Sakura.’ Shisui says it with such an intensity that her chest tightens.</p>
<p>Her cheeks flush.</p>
<p>He looks at the crowds passing them by, then turns towards her again, the strawberry mochi in his hand.</p>
<p>‘We should follow the old lady’s advice and share this.’ Shisui winks at her, mischief in his eyes, before bringing the mochi to Sakura’s lips.</p>
<p>Sakura stares at it for a few moments and opens her mouth to reply, but is stopped by Shisui pressing the soft mochi to her lips. It leaves her no choice but to bite into it, and Sakura closes her eyes in pleasure at the combination of flavors.</p>
<p>She doesn’t see Shisui frowning just a little, the tip of his tongue wetting his bottom lip.</p>
<p>When she opens her eyes, his face is back to normal and he doesn’t hesitate before popping the rest of the mochi into his mouth. It’s Sakura’s turn to frown.</p>
<p>The queasiness in her stomach has nothing to do with the dango.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please review :)</p>
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